Abductors of Enugu passengers returning from burial demand N20m ransom

The suspected abductors of four mourners, who attended a funeral service in Enugu, have demanded N5m as ransom for each of the victims.

They made their demand on Saturday and Sunday to the family of one of the victims, Mr Ernest Ukwu, a trader in a market in the state capital.

Ernest and the other victims, including a Catholic Reverend Sister, were kidnapped on Friday on the Nike-Ugwogo-Nsukka Road, while they were returning from the burial of a friend in Nsukka.

A lawyer was among the occupants of the car the mourners were travelling in when the gunmen abducted them.

The victims, who travelled in a Sienna vehicle for the burial rites in Nsukka, were said to be returning to Enugu when the gunmen accosted them and led them into the bush and left the vehicle behind.

A relation of one of the victims told our correspondent on Tuesday that the kidnappers had called the family and demanded N5m as ransom for their son’s release.

Also, Ernest’s wife, Ogechukwu, told our correspondent that the kidnappers were demanding N5m for his release.

She said amidst sobs, “On Friday, my husband went for a burial at Nsukka and on his way back, gunmen attacked his car and kidnapped him.

“Today is the fifth day that my husband was kidnapped. The kidnappers called on Saturday and Sunday, asking us to bring N5m for his release, which we don’t have. We are begging them that we don’t have that kind of money.

“I am begging the government of Enugu State to help us and secure the freedom of my husband.”

Efforts to get the reaction of the state police command were unsuccessful as the Commissioner of Police, Ahmad Abdurrahman, and the Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Daniel Ndukwe, did not take their calls.

Also, text messages sent to their mobile phones had not been replied to as of the time of filing this report.  (The Punch)