Abducted bride, sister-in-laws regain freedom after N7m ransom in Kwara

Mrs Rukkayat Musa, a newly-wed wife and her two sister in-laws who were abducted by the kidnappers from their residential house at Emir’s road, Ilorin, Kwara State capital, have regained freedom after paying N7m ransom, against l N50 million demanded by their abductors.

It was gathered that Rukkayat and two other victims, Hafsat and Aliyah, were reportedly freed in the early hours of Sunday.

It was earlier learnt that the trio were abducted on Thursday when the gunmen invaded the home of the newly wed couple at Oniyangi area on Emir’s road, Ilorin.

The victim’s husband, Mr Musa, escaped when the gunmen stormed the rented apartment of the couple located in Alaya’s compound.

However, the kidnappers later contacted the family and demanded a ransom of N50 million, while warning that the condition must be met by the weekend, failure of which they threatened to kill the ladies.

When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer PPRO, Kwara command, SP Okasanmi Ajayi, said he was not aware of the incident.

“I am not aware of the incident, nobody told me of the kidnap of that newly wed lady,” he had said.

But a brother of the bride, who did not want his name mentioned, said the three ladies were released in the early hours of Sunday.

He said, “They arrived in Ilorin and called us around 2am today (Sunday) but their release was not for free.

“The family paid a ransom of N7 million to the kidnappers down from the N50 initially demanded before they were set free. We could not raise up to that amount but cried and begged them before they accepted the N7million that we raised within the family.

“The three ladies were taken to the hospital immediately for treatment. They are still on admission.”

According to him, “The ladies were not rescued by the police.”

He, however, appealed to Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq and security operatives to save residents from insecurity.