Police Lied – We Paid Ransom For The Release Of Abducted Students – Families

One the relatives of a student of the Ahmadu Bello University kidnapped alongside two other students on Abuja-Kaduna road on Monday has reacted to the claim by the police that the captives were rescued.

Yesterday, the Kaduna state police command reported that the three students had been released by their abductors, but did not state that a ransom was paid.

“The Command wishes to state that, on the said date, August 26, at about 18:50hrs, armed men in military uniform intercepted some commuters near Masari village along Kaduna-Abuja Expressway, opened fire on the vehicles, in the process kidnapped six persons,” a statement issued by Yakubu Sabo, the command’s public relations officer, read.

“Due to the prompt response of the Police and other security agents to the scene, three people were later released by the hoodlums due to intensive combing within the general area.”

Bashir Ahmad, the personal assistant to President Buhari on new media, shared a report quoting the police claim, this elicited a reaction from Sadiq Ango, a Twitter user, who said the police lied and that it took the families 48 hours of negotiations and payment of ransom before the students were released.