Police did not rescue us, abductors collected N40m before releasing us – Nasarawa poly student

A student of the Federal Polytechnic, Nasarawa, who was kidnapped alongside 29 others, has disclosed that the kidnappers collected about N40 million in ransom before they were granted freedom.

TrackNews Media reported on Monday that about 30 travellers, including some students of the polytechnic, were abducted by kidnappers along the Abuja-Nasarawa Highway on Friday.

Recall that the kidnappers ambushed the vehicles transporting the travellers and took them into a nearby bush in the Uke area of Nasarawa State. A student among the abductees was travelling to her family in Abuja at the time of the incident.

Speaking with newsmen on Tuesday, the victim recounted how the seven-man gang ambushed their vehicles, shot at the tyres, and robbed them of their belongings before abducting them into the bush.

She further explained that once in the thick bush, the kidnappers allowed the victims to rest upon realizing some were exhausted.

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She disclosed that around midnight on Saturday, the kidnappers instructed the captives to call their relatives to demand a ransom of N10 million each.

The victim also stated that after several pleadings, the kidnappers grouped them into students and non-students, demanding that students collectively pay N10 million while others should pay N10 million each.

She added, “We, who are students, started calling our relatives and money was rallied around to make the payment.

“There is an Alhaji among the other group who raised about N20m and other people raised about N10m. The total money they got was about N40m.

“During the whole incident, we did not see any police officer come around till we were released. It was after they said they had got the money that they allowed us to go. We have gone to the police station but were told to write a statement.”

A relative of the victim earlier stated that the victim had reached out to her family, notifying them of her release.

“She contacted us this morning, saying they had been released. I am on my way to the police station because the number she called us from has been unreachable since,” the relative said.

Efforts to obtain a response from the Nasarawa State Police Public Relations Officer, Rahman Nansel, were unsuccessful, as messages and calls to his phone went unanswered at the time of filing this report.