Police encourages family to negotiate with kidnappers

Kangmwa GofwenFebruary 22, 20241 Mins read1.2k

Eight persons have allegedly been abducted by gunmen along Abuja/Kogi road yesterday. According to a post on X by one @LawrenceOkoro, the vehicle was heading to Abuja when the assailants attacked it and whisked away the victims.

He revealed that the kidnappers had established contact with one of the victim’s family and demanded N20 million as ransom; however, when they called a police emergency line in Abuja to report the matter, they were encouraged to negotiate with the kidnappers because there was nothing they could do.

“Unfortunately, the contact said they can do nothing from Abuja. He advised that they try to negotiate further. Sadly, we have such a weak system,” Lawrence said that was the response the family got from the emergency line.

Four out of the eight victims were reportedly critically injured, while one of them was meant to travel abroad tomorrow for his studies.

“A vehicle heading to Abuja yesterday was attacked, and eight persons were kidnapped around Kogi State. Four of the victims are badly injured and in critical situations. One of the victims is to travel abroad for his studies.

“The Police are asking the families of the victims to negotiate with the kidnappers, that they can’t do anything. Kidnappers are asking for N20 Million for each of their captives.

@police @Princemoye1, is this not part of your job to secure lives and properties?” he posted.

Further findings by West Africa Weekly indicated that the victims were travelling from Enugu to Abuja when the criminals intercepted their vehicle. At the time of this report, the location of one of the victims showed that they were held captive around the FCT.

This is not the first kidnap case the Nigerian Police in the FCT have handled with recklessness, as there had also been a report of them demanding a certain amount from families of kidnap victims before they could commence investigations.