Kidnappers release corps member, others in swap for cash and motorcycles

SODEEQ ATANDA FROM FIJ

Aisha Shittu, a corps member from Kaduna State who was kidnapped in November, has finally regained freedom after her family paid N30 million and supplied 10 new motorcycles to her abductors.

Mohammed Salisu, a member of the family, said Shittu was released alongside her daughters, including Fatima, and 23-year-old Hadiza, her niece, on Thursday.

FIJ earlier reported how the corps member was kidnapped from her apartment at Baba Saura Estate, Maraba Rido in the Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna.

Days after the abduction, their kidnappers demanded a N500 million ransom from the family. This kickstarted a panic-driven negotiation by the family for the kidnappers’ demand to be reduced.

Salisu told FIJ that the family involved the police, but he could not speak particularly about which layer of the police was involved and the role they played.

“The family told the police, but they did not come through,” he said.

“They [the kidnappers] released them last Thursday after we paid N30 million with 10 motorcycles,” Salisu told FIJ on Saturday.

“It was a long process and a painful one at that. How it played out was that, after the abductors agreed to collect that amount, they insisted it must be in cash. That blurs any evidence of a digital trail.

“When the family paid that sum, the kidnappers then requested for 10 motorcycles. After much negotiations, we provided eight but the kidnappers stood their ground that it must be 10 otherwise they would not release them.

“At that point, we could not buy any motorcycle again. We had to pay the money equivalent of the remainder to the kidnappers.

“After that, the kidnappers instructed those who took the money to the designated point to go and wait for them at another place to receive the victims.”