Gunmen have demanded 30 million nairas as ransom for two teenage girls reportedly kidnapped in Kubwa, Bwari Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
Six of the gunmen allegedly returned to the area on Sunday around 11:25 pm. despite the presence of military and police officers patrolling the area. They whisked away two sisters, 16 and 14 years old.
According to SaharaReporters, the gunmen took three of a man’s children, two girls and one boy; however, they sent the boy back home to inform their father to prepare N30 million as ransom for the girls, an eyewitness told the company.
The eyewitness said the kidnappers had changed their mode of entry as they came into the area quietly and only started shooting when they had abducted the girls. He said: “While they were forcing themselves inside, the owner of the house ran to the vigilante’s office, then, he ran to the commander’s house, but before the commander could call another person and rush back to his house, the gunmen were already gone. When they were going, they started shooting; unlike before, they would shoot before the operation and till the end.
“They took three of his children, two girls and one boy, but they went away with two and sent back one from the bush to go and tell their father to prepare 30 million naira for their ransom. Before the police arrived to the scene, they were already gone. Some vigilantes later traced them to the railway line and the rocks, but there were no further traces,” he said.
The gunmen also allegedly beat up the mother of the children when she pleaded for thick clothing for the children because of the cold. People of the community had earlier protested at the office of the FCT Minister, Nyesome Wike, over the deplorable state of the road linking their community, which they believed to be the cause of the continuous kidnap in the area.