Barely a month after a businesswoman, identified as Risikat Oladokun, was abducted by gunmen in the Awa Ijebu area of Ogun State, her husband, Mathew Oladokun, has lamented the inability of the Nigeria Police to rescue her despite the payment of N5m as ransom to the abductors.
The distressed husband, while speaking with our correspondent on Monday, said the police appeared to have given up on the search for his wife, even as the abductors had been contacting the family for payment of additional ransom.
It was gathered that Risikat was abducted by gunmen at her residence in Awa Ijebu, Ijebu North Local Government Area of the state on March 12, while returning from work.
The victim’s husband blamed the police for the prolonged abduction of his wife, lamenting that the abductors had refused to release his wife even after his payment of a N5m ransom.
Oladokun said, “The abductors have collected more than N5m from us as a ransom to secure the release of my wife who was abducted over a month ago and they are still demanding more money.
“The abductors have refused to let us speak with her since she was abducted. We don’t know her current status, they are just asking us for more money.
“We were just driving into our compound when the gunmen struck. They were about five in number, and they attacked me first. Two of them with guns later locked me and our children in the house and took my wife away.”
Recounting the sad experience, Oladokun said they took “both our phones, some cash, and our ATM cards. They withdrew all the oney in our bank accounts and they have been calling the family for ransom.
“Initially, when they contacted us, they demanded N15m, but we told them we didn’t have such an amount. We saw N1.2m at first, later we sent N2.2m and we have sent more, but they kept demanding more money and have refused to release her”, Oladokun said.
He noted that the case was reported to the police and later transferred to the anti-kidnapping unit, “but no concrete thing has been done yet to ensure the safe return of my wife.”
Oladokun, however, appealed to the state Commissioner of Police, Abiodun Alamutu, to collaborate with other security agencies to fast-track the safe release of his wife.
When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer of the command, Omolola Odutola, said, “This is an old case. I have not been able to call the Divisional Police Officer for an update.”
She, however, promised to get back to our correspondent if there was any update on the incident but never did as of the time of filing this report.