Kidnappers demand N10m for the corpse of a victim they killed while he was in their custody

ARMED hoodlums operating in Kaduna State had added a particularly new inhumane aspect to their operations after requesting the sum of N10m ($22,677) from the family of a man they killed after kidnapping him before his corpse is released.

Of late, kidnapping has become a booming business in Nigeria, with armed bandits operating with total impunity, totally overwhelming the security services. Over the last few weeks, bandits operating in Kaduna abducted one Obadiah Ibrahim, who died in their custody and according to his brother Kefas Obadiah, they had collected N3m but still refused to release the corpse of the victim until the full N10m was paid.

Kefas said: “Ibrahim had died on Monday and they informed us on Thursday. We asked for his corpse and they said we should pay them N10m if we wanted the corpse, as they’d not work for us free of charge.

“My brother’s name is Obadiah Ibrahim and he was kidnapped in early October in Sabon Gaya on his way back from Abuja to Kaduna. Although I wasn’t the one communicating with the bandits,  they demanded N200m and later settled for N3m plus.

“They said we should bring the money and after giving them the ransom, they told us the money was for their foodstuffs which got finished and that we should go and bring N15m. They later came down to N5m and three motor bikes and later collected one bike. After collecting a bike, we didn’t hear from them again. We tried to communicate with them but unfortunately, we were unable to.

“Then, on Thursday, when the negotiator called them, they said our brother was dead. We thought they were joking. When we continued, they threatened to track him and come for him if he did not stop calling their line.

“They said their own men were arrested by the police, tied to a tree and killed, so, they vented their anger too on our brother because of what police did to their brother. The bandits also said  if we brought the money they’d release the corpse in three days.”