Iliyasu Suleiman, a 50-year-old school principal in Bauchi State who is now in kidnappers’ net, has asked his wife to sell his house and other property to raise N50 million for a ransom.
The school teacher was kidnapped alongside the son of the state’s auditor-general, Zilkifiru Mohammed, who subsequently escaped from the kidnappers’ den.
In a viral audio obtained by The Guardian, the 50-year-old victim was heard speaking in Hausa with his family while pleading with them to sell his property to raise the money. He asked the wife to meet his employer in the Ministry of Education to rescue him.
Iliyasu has spent five days in the hands of his abductors. The Principal of Government Day Secondary School, Lere, in Tafawa Balewa Local Government Area of Bauchi State, also appealed to Governor Bala Mohammed to rescue him from his abductors.
Suleiman’s family further said; “The auditor-general was shot in his mouth and he is receiving treatment, but they went with the poor principal. He has never seen N1 million in his life, but the kidnappers have vowed to kill him if within two days his family did not bring N50 million.”
The wife was heard saying that she was doing everything possible to meet the target, but regretted that so far, she was only able to raise the sum of N200,000, which is the worth of his car.
Commissioner for Education, Dr Aliyu Tilde, in a telephone interview, said that he would not make comments, saying it is a security issue. “No comment on that, it is a security matter,” he said.
Iliyasu Suleiman and 25-year-old Zulkifiru Mohammed were kidnapped last Saturday at Kardam village when the attempt to kidnap the auditor-general of Bauchi State was foiled.
The police in Bauchi did not respond to enquiries by our correspondent. Telephone call to the Public Relations Officer, DSP Ahmed Wakili, was declined.
