A couple kidnapped by bandits who attacked the Shola community in Katsina Local Government Area of Katsina State ten days ago have spoken out about their ordeal at the hands of their kidnappers, Charmingpro reports
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Alhaji Tukur Turaki told Charmingpro that on the night of the attack, his wife heard some people manhandling their son and mistook them for soldiers, so she opened their apartment door, allowing the kidnappers access.
Turaki stated;
“When they came in, they asked my wife where I was, and I responded even before she pointed to my location.” They asked for money, so I gave them the N700,000 I had on me.
“After I handed over the money, one of them said they weren’t there for my money, but to kill me, and I told him he should tell me how I should position myself for him to kill me.” When he heard that, he grabbed my hand and said, “We won’t kill you, but we’ll accompany you so you can pay the ransom to free yourself.”
“When we went out, my wife followed us, and they told her to go back, but she stood still, and one of them said she should come with us, and that’s how they kidnapped two of us.”
He claimed they trekked to a location near Bugaje village in Jibia LGA, where the bandits kept their motorcycles before transporting them to a forest.
Turaki stated;
“The next day, they demanded N30 million in ransom, which we negotiated down to N10 million, but it rained that day, so my people couldn’t deliver the money until the next day.” By then, our captors had told us that we needed to add N1m for the extra day, so I directed my people to mobilize the additional funds, and they delivered the entire N11m.”
Turaki described the living conditions as deplorable, claiming that one of the remaining captives had a baby girl for whom they wore a nylon bag instead of a diaper. He also revealed that they did not bathe the baby during his and his wife’s stay.
Turaki’s wife, Hajiya Sa’adatu Turaki, also shared her experience, saying the bandits kidnapped some people, including a nursing mother, at Shola quarters.
She stated;
“When I realized that nursing mother was having trouble breathing, I picked up her baby and backed her up, and we went to a place where they shared that N700,000 amongst them.”
