Some yet-to-be-nabbed bandits, who abducted seven children of the factional Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the Maru Local Government Area of Zamfara State, Alhaji Gyare Kadauri Sani, have demanded a N50 million ransom for their release.
A report by the Punch newspaper quoted the names of the victims as: Bashar, Abubakar, Haruna, Habibah, Sufyanu, Mubarak and Armiya.
They were kidnapped by bandits last Friday in Kadauri village.
According to Gyare, the bandits called him and told him to provide the money or forget seeing his children again.
“They called me and asked me to pay N50m for the release of the seven children and warned that they would kill them if the money were not paid on time,” he stated.
When asked if he had contacted the relevant authorities on the issue, Gyare said, “There is no need for me to see them since they are aware of what happened to me and nobody has sympathised with me.
“Even the Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Bala Bello Maru, who happens to be from my local government area, neither came to my house to sympathise with me nor called me on the phone.”
He also lamented that the chairman of the local government council, Alhaji Salisu Dangulbi, also did not reach out to him on the incident.
“I feel highly disturbed; I feel like I am a stranger and I don’t know what to do at the moment, because I can’t afford the amount being demanded by these heartless people,” Gyare added.
He noted that he could not raise the amount being demanded by the bandits even if he sold all his property, saying, “I explained this to the bandits on the phone, but they only laughed at me.”
Gyare expressed disgust over the relevant authorities’ carefree attitude towards the protection of lives and property of Nigerians.