A female resident of Starwood Estate, Galadimawa, in the Federal Capital Territory, Mistura Olasinde and her two daughters, Hauwa and Fatima, were abducted on Friday, September 8 in the nation’s capital.
Mistura’s husband, Surajudeen Olasinde, a staff member of the Nigerian Nuclear Regulatory Authority, who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria, revealed that the incident happened at Kabusa Garden Estate while his wife and children were driving home in their Toyota Highlander from Garki to Starwood Estate located in-between Galadimawa and Lokokogoma areas of Abuja, where they reside.
“Their abduction happened around 7pm on their way from Garki. Immediately they reached Kabusa Garden Estate at the spot where the road was terribly bad, the kidnappers came out from the nearby bush and attacked them.
“They started shooting to scare people away before they marched them into the bush,” Olasinde said.
He further noted that residents quickly called on the Galadimawa Divisional Police Officer, Jerry Cole, who immediately led a team of policemen in collaboration with vigilante operatives, to comb the bushes, adding that the search effort was, however, unsuccessful.
Olasinde, who said he was away in the state when the incident happened, arrived in Abuja on Saturday, adding that his family’s captors contacted his brother-in-law to demand a N100m ransom.
“They asked for N100m. Later, they brought it down to N50m, then to N10m. But at the end of the day, they asked us how much we had with us.
“The kidnappers even told us that if they killed my wife and my two daughters, they could sell their body parts above whatever amount we claimed to have. We resorted to begging, pleading with them not to harm or kill my family,” he narrated.
He further noted that when they informed the kidnappers that they didn’t have much money, the kidnappers asked about the Toyota Highlander that was attacked, leading him to inform them that it was part of the valuables sold out to raise money for the ransom.
Olasinde further revealed that they were able to raise exactly N2.840m, adding that the kidnappers directed them to bring the ransom Saturday night.
“They directed us to bring the money around 8pm on Saturday. They told us to go to Kabusa Village and pick any okada rider (commercial motorcyclist) to a place where we did not know.
“My brother-in-law and I climbed the same bike to deliver the ransom. When we got to the thick forest where they were, they came out, collected the ransom. We gave them N2.840m.
“It took about 40 minutes before my wife and daughters got to the point where we waited for them. So, we begged the okada rider to take my wife and daughters home, and to come back and pick us too,” Olasinde revealed.
While calling on President Bola Tinubu and the Minister of FCT, Nyesom Wike, to come to their rescue, he noted that besides the injuries sustained by his wife and daughters, they were also going through some psychological trauma, and had been taken to a hospital for medical attention.
When contacted, the Galadimawa DPO, Cole, urged our correspondent to reach out to the spokesperson for the FCT Police Command, SP Josephine Adeh, noting that he was not permitted to speak with the media.
However, when contacted, SP Adeh noted that the FCT Police Command had yet to be briefed about the development, while promising to give an update as soon as she was briefed.
