A woman identified as Rukkayat Musa and her two sisters-in-law, who were abducted last Wednesday in Ilorin, Kwara State capital, have regained their freedom.
It was reported earlier that the victims were abducted from their residence at Emir’s road, Ilorin, in the Ilorin East local government area of Kwara state on Wednesday midnight.
However, after several efforts to rescue the victims through the police, the family eventually paid a ransom of seven million to the kidnappers before they were released.
A very close member of the family who spoke to Vanguard confirmed that the abductors released the kidnapped victims in the wee hours of Sunday.
The kidnappers are said to have earlier demanded N50 million as ransom but were profusely begged to accept N7 million, after which they were released.
The source, who craved anonymity, told journalists that it wasn’t the police that rescued their relations, adding that their sisters, who called them early Sunday morning, were released after the payment of the N7 million.
“They arrived in Ilorin and called us around 2 am today (Sunday), but their release was not for free. The family paid a ransom of N7 million to the kidnappers before they were set free.
“Though, the kidnappers demanded N50 million. We could not raise up to that amount, and we started negotiations with them, and we told them that we are a poor family and had no money. We cried and begged them before they accepted the N7 million that we raised within the family.
“The three ladies were taken to the hospital immediately for treatment, and they are still on admission”, the relative of the victims told journalists.
He, however, appealed to Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq and all Security operatives in the state to save the people of the state from insecurity and incessant raid of homes and killing of innocent people in the state by gunmen and kidnappers.
When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer PPRO in the state Police Command, SP Okasanmi Ajayi, told reporters that he was neither aware of the kidnap incident nor their release.
“I am not aware of the incident; nobody told me of the kidnap of that newlywed lady,” Okasanmi reportedly said.
