Crime
Gunmen collect N3m ransom, kill victim, demand N10m to release corpse’
Bandits abducted one Obadiah Ibrahim in Kaduna and killed him after collecting over N3million and other valuables as ransom. More shocking is that they also demanded N10 million before the release of his corpse. Younger brother of the late victim, Kefas Ibrahim, narrates the family’s ordeal in this interview.
Excerpts of interview:
Your brother was kidnapped by bandits and we heard that bandits are demanding N10million before they would release the corpse to your family. What is the update?
In the beginning, there were lots of inconsistencies. They said my brother was kidnapped while coming from Abuja. That was not true.
What exactly happened?
My brother worked with a company that is servicing GSM masts. And their coverage is from Kaduna to Jere and Kubacha. They used to service the masts monthly. On their way coming they branched at one of the masts at Sabon Gaya here in Kaduna. That was the place they were kidnapped and taken to the bush. I think that was on the first Monday of the month.
After he was kidnapped, what happened?
After the kidnap, the bandits started calling. They called my younger brother who is a lawyer. They asked him if he knew his brother was with them. My brother said yes and asked what were we going to do? They said it was a money issue. They spoke Hausa but their Hausa is Fulani Hausa. My brother told them we didn’t have money. They insulted him and turned off the phone.
Were you allowed to talk to your kidnapped brother?
We were not the ones negotiating with them. There was a negotiator. It was only once that they called my brother. They also called one of his colleagues in his office. He recorded their conversation. Any time they called him he would record them.
Sometimes he narrated the conversations. There were also periods they played them for us to listen to. Sometimes they gave my brother the phone to speak with us. He pleaded with us to look for means of getting money.
He was in pain because they used to torture him. Even from his voice, you could tell he was gone. They initially demanded N200million. We told them that we didn’t have money. They came down to N5million. From N5million, they asked us how much we had.
We negotiated and told them we had N3, 120, 000. After some days, they said we should bring the money to them. They also asked for recharge cards of N50, 000. They requested for Glo and Airtel. We sent the money and cards on the 20th or 21st of last month.
Were you among those who took the money to them?
I didn’t get to the place. There was a particular place they said we should come to. They said they would direct us to where we should take the money. They called the place Rido. I, my brother’s colleague and the person we hired that would take the money to them went to Rido. When we got there, we looked for a bike man that would take us there. We had to hire a bike that was not looking good so that the bandits would not seize it.
We also got somebody that knew the terrain to lead the person that would give them the ransom in the bush. According to him, when he took the money to them, the bandits came out with guns, holding AK 47. The bandits were more than 200. They counted the money and confirmed the amount, and also the recharge cards. They picked the first three and loaded them.
They picked from the middle to be sure no one had tampered with the cards. They called to inform us that they had seen what we sent. We told them they were supposed to release our brother but they said it was late. They said the next day in the morning they would release him. The next day in the morning when we tried to know the time he would be freed, they said the reason they collected the money was that they ran short of food.
They said we should bring extra N15million. We now told them we had sold everything we had. They came down to N5million again. We said we didn’t have. They said we should bring three motorcycles. They said ‘machine barayi’ meaning ‘bike for thieves.’ They added, saying ‘Irin na Boko Haram,’ meaning the type of bike used by Boko Haram. They said they wanted to use motorcycles to catch other people. They gave us time that if we did not bring it, they were going to kill our brother.
From three, they came down to one ‘machine barayi’ . The money for that bike is more than N800, 000. They said we should bring Bajaj motorcycle. We bought the Bajaj and took it to them on a Sunday. They promised they were going to release my brother the next day. The next day, we didn’t get them on phone. The second day we didn’t get them. The third day they told us they’d gone for their ‘sana’a’ (work ). They promised to release him when they came back.
That was on a Wednesday. On Thursday morning, they told us that he was dead. We said “ok, how can we get the corpse?” They said we should give them N10million. They said they could not work for us for free. The bandits said if we gave them the money, they were going to put the body in three sacks and drop it where they kidnapped him at Sabon Gaya, close to the mast. They even swore, saying “Allah za mu kawo shi,” (we swear to Allah to bring the corpse). They said they would not work for free but if we pay them they would work for us. The negotiator asked why they should do such a thing. Why would they kill him? They started insulting the negotiator. They said the military and the police usually tie them to a stick and leave them to die. My brother was not shot. He was tortured to death. Before his death, on Monday, I heard his voice on Saturday, and I knew that something was wrong. I knew that if he was not released on time, he was going to die.
So you couldn’t get the corpse up until now?
They said we should give them N10million or we shouldn’t call them again. They told the negotiator that they were going to track him, take him to the bush and let him die the way my brother died.
Are you staying with your parents?
No, my father, a retired soldier, is late. He died four months ago. My mother now stays in the village because she’s old. She is about 73 years old and not feeling good. It’s just the grace of God that helped us. We told her and, after some time, she got over it.
What about your late brother’s family?
He had a wife and two children.
We believe in God. Anything that happened, we borrowed from the Hausa people, that it is God’s wish. We so much believe in that. God allows evil to have its day, but the day of reckoning is coming.
Didn’t you involve security agencies?
We didn’t involve security agents because we don’t trust them. The day before my brother died, the kidnappers’ leader said he was in Kawo, Kaduna. When he called he said he was in Kawo. Who would you take the phone number to for them to track him? They know everybody that is communicating with a handset. They know the location. We are sitting on a time-bomb in this country. Our leaders are not concerned about the poor. I know if it was the son of a senator that was captured or the son of any other leader in the country, they would have acted fast. These bandits are not far from us in Kaduna. From Rido to the place where we took the money is not far from Kaduna.
Now that you couldn’t get the corpse of your brother for a proper funeral, what is next?
I have my decision to make. I don’t think we have anything to do except prayers. We just pray for him. According to my belief, my brother is not dead because I did not see his corpse. People even asked me to bring his picture and put it outside our gate, I said no. We cannot do an obituary of somebody we have not seen. The only thing for us to do is to pray and our prayer is that the abductors, the people that killed him, God should deliver them. They should repent so that they would not perish. I may not see him again, but I will not conclude that he is dead.
A young man suspected of attempting to steal cables from a transformer was found dead after reportedly being electrocuted along Trademore Road in Lugbe, Abuja, in the early hours of Friday.
The deceased was reportedly found crouched and lifeless near the transformer, with his body said to have become stiff, suggesting he may have been electrocuted when power was restored.
Residents said there had been no electricity supply in the area on Thursday night before the incident occurred.
The discovery attracted a crowd of residents, who expressed concern over the increasing activities of cable vandals in different parts of the Federal Capital Territory.
Rasheed Ogunyemi, a resident of Iddo Seriki along the Airport Road, said residents in his area often contribute money to repair their transformer, only for vandals to return and cut the cables.
The FCT Police Public Relations Officer, SP Josephine Adeh, confirmed the incident, stating that the deceased’s body had been evacuated and deposited at a mortuary in Gwagwalada for autopsy.
More than 60 worshippers are feared to have been kidnapped from the Central Mosque in Dekara town, Borgu Local Government Area of Niger State, during Jumu’at prayers on Friday.
The incident occurred when suspected terrorists, said to be operating in large numbers, stormed the mosque while the prayers were ongoing.
According to sources, the attackers fired several shots before rounding up some of the worshippers and taking them into the surrounding forest.
A resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Borgu Local Government Area witnessed several security incidents on Friday, including attacks on three communities.
“So many things happened in Borgu LGA on Friday. Terrorists attacked three communities, including Dekara. In Dekara, they went to the Central Mosque while Jumu’at prayer was ongoing and kidnapped more than 60 people. But they did not injure anybody,” the resident said.
The Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ijumu Local Government Area of Kogi State, Oyewole Mayowa Solomon, has died after reportedly collapsing during a party reconciliation meeting in Iyara, the council headquarters.
Solomon reportedly slumped suddenly while participating in the meeting convened on Friday by a former Ijumu council chairman, Funsho Olumoko, as part of efforts to resolve internal disagreements and promote unity among APC stakeholders in the area.
An eyewitness said the incident caused confusion among participants, who immediately attempted to revive the party chairman before rushing him to a hospital in Kabba.
He reportedly died shortly after arriving at the hospital.
The development shocked party leaders and other stakeholders who had gathered for the reconciliation meeting, which was aimed at strengthening the APC ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The meeting was expected to bring together party leaders, ward and local government executives, women and youth leaders, as well as government appointees from the 15 wards in Ijumu.
The incident occurred amid renewed efforts by APC stakeholders in the council to resolve longstanding disagreements and restore unity within the local chapter.
Earlier in the month, party leaders in Ijumu had endorsed President Bola Tinubu and Kogi State Governor, Usman Ododo, for second terms.
However, that gathering was reportedly disrupted by disagreements over the leadership of the local government, with Solomon and some other officials said to have walked out of the meeting.
Olumoko, who organised Friday’s reconciliation meeting, had previously been mandated by the Ijumu Consultative Forum to facilitate dialogue among political stakeholders in the council.
Solomon’s sudden death is expected to create fresh uncertainty around the ongoing reconciliation efforts within the Ijumu APC, coming barely two weeks after stakeholders renewed calls for unity ahead of the 2027 elections.
The cause of his death had not been officially disclosed as of the time of filing this report, while efforts to obtain an official reaction from the APC were ongoing.
Tension and grief have gripped the political community in Enugu State following the suspected murder of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) Chairman in Udenu Local Government Area, Chisimdiri Emmanuel Ngwu.
Ngwu, described as one of the longest-serving members of the ADC in the state, was reportedly found dead in the early hours of Wednesday, August 19, 2026, under circumstances that have raised concerns among his family, friends and political associates.
A family source told our correspondent that Ngwu woke up early on Wednesday, left the house and never returned alive.
The source said the family became worried after they noticed he was missing, only to later discover his lifeless body outside the compound.
“We woke up and didn’t see him, only to discover his lifeless body in front of our compound,” the source said.
The source further alleged that scratches were found around Ngwu’s neck and that his neck appeared to have been twisted backwards, raising suspicions about the circumstances of his death.
The incident has sparked concern within the ADC in Udenu and the wider political community in Enugu State, with calls for security agencies to thoroughly investigate the matter and bring anyone found responsible to justice.
Meanwhile, two persons have reportedly been arrested in connection with the incident.
Their identities and the specific circumstances surrounding their arrest were not immediately known as of press time.
Ngwu’s death has since sent shock waves through the ADC, with party members and associates mourning his death and demanding a transparent investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident.
The Anambra State Police Command has uncovered the circumstances surrounding the alleged murder of a 56-year-old man, Mr Kelechi Madu, in Awkuzu, Oyi Local Government Area, two days after he was reported missing.
The development was disclosed in a statement issued on Friday, August 21, 2026, by the Police Public Relations Officer, SP Tochukwu Ikenga, who said the breakthrough followed a coordinated search and investigation by police operatives, local vigilantes and members of the deceased’s family.
Madu was reported missing by his wife on August 18, after he reportedly left home on the evening of August 17 and failed to return.
According to the Command, the search for the missing man took a grim turn later that day when his wife returned to the police station to report that he had been found dead in a nearby bush at Umuobi, Awkuzu.
Police operatives immediately mobilised to the scene, where they found Madu’s lifeless body with a deep axe wound to his head. His remains were subsequently evacuated and deposited at a hospital mortuary for preservation.
Following the discovery, detectives intensified their investigation and arrested the deceased’s 32-year-old friend, Mr Ifeanyi Nwankwo, who allegedly confessed to being involved in the planning of the killing.
Preliminary findings by the Command indicated that Nwankwo allegedly obtained money from Madu through fraudulent means, claiming he would assist him in acquiring a piece of land.
Police alleged that the suspect subsequently engaged two other persons to eliminate Madu in an attempt to conceal the alleged fraudulent transaction and prevent the victim from recovering the money.
The Command said two other suspects linked to the alleged plot were also arrested, bringing the number of persons apprehended in connection with the case to four.
The Commissioner of Police, Anambra State Command, CP Nnanna Oji Ama, psc, mnips, has directed investigators to intensify the probe and identify every person involved in the alleged conspiracy and murder.
The CP vowed that all persons found culpable would be brought to justice.
The Command, through Ikenga, assured residents that it would continue to strengthen intelligence-led policing and community partnerships to prevent violent crimes, uncover criminal networks and ensure that perpetrators face the full weight of the law.
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