The family of a pregnant housewife that gave birth in captivity, the new baby and her two sisters in Kaduna State, have been given 48hrs ultimatum to pay N50 million ransom by bandits or receive their corpses.
The family has begged the government and good spirited Nigerians to help them secure the release of their loved ones, saying so far, they have been only able to raise N6.5 million.
They told journalists in Kaduna, yesterday, that although they offered the bandits the said N6.5 million, “it was vehemently rejected by the bandits.”
Speaking to journalists, a brother of the kidnapped victims, Kabir Yusuf, said he had begged the bandits and told them that the family had sold everything they had in order to raise N6.5 million but the bandits rejected it.
“One of my sisters, Zainab, who was heavily pregnant when they were kidnapped, gave birth in captivity without recourse to medical or human care for both mother and child. They were subjected to the harsh weather conditions, eating and drinking whatever is available in the forest.
“Since they took them away, we have been negotiating with them. The bandits initially demanded N140 million but we pleaded with them that we are poor people, so they reduced it to N100 million. We pleaded with them further and they later reduced it to N50 million and threatened that if we don’t have the N50 million ready, we should not call them again.
“My sisters cried to me on Sunday that they were being maltreated, that the bandits’ commander want to leave the camp and may not return until after a while, so we should talk to them. But I told them that we have sold everything we have but what we raised is not big and we don’t have anything to sell again. They started crying and I cried too.
“Now, the disturbing development is that, on Sunday, when I spoke to the bandits, I pleaded with them to release my sisters and the new baby, that we have only been able to raise N6.5 million. But, they started insulting me, they said if we don’t bring N50 million in the next two days, they will kill my sisters and the new baby.
“We are appealing to the Federal Government, Kaduna State government, charity organisations, philanthropists and well-spirited individuals to assist us in securing their release. We don’t want anything to happen to them, if anything happens to them, only God knows what effect it will have on our mother, who is now on wheelchair because of their absence.”
The three sisters were kidnapped on July 17, 2022, in Mando community Kaduna at their family house, where they came to look after their old mother, who has been ill.