The bandits that abducted some 38 worshippers at the Crist Apostolic Church (CAC), Eruku in Ekiti local government area of Kwara State have demaplaced a cumulative N3.8bn ransom on the 38 abductees.
The kidnappers have started contacting the victims’ families, demanding N100m ransom on each of the 38 victims in their captivity since they were abducted during a church service on Tuesday.
A community leader and Olori Eta of Eruku, Chief Olusegun Olukotun whose four relatives were among the kidnapped victims confirmed the outrageous ransom being demanded by the scoundrels.
According to Leadership news, Olukotun, who said he was in the church with five of his family members when the band of savage struck, said he and one of his wards escaped the attack around 6:06 p.m through the church’s window.
He confirmed that the kidnappers have made contact with the people of the community and are demanding N100m as ransom on each of the 38 victims.
“From what we gathered from the kidnappers camp, they (kidnappers) have grouped the victims according to their relations and are now calling our people through each of the group.
“Some people in the community have received calls from the kidnappers demanding N100m for each person but as regard my own people I have not receive any call concerning them, so I am still waiting,” he said.
Olukotun who expressed gratitude to the government, particularly Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRahman for identifying with the community on the attack, also appealed for more security presence in Eruku, being a border community to ensure the security of life and property of the populace.
He also called for fortification of the community’s vigilante members with relevant and more sophisticated combat weapons that would match those of the kidnappers in case of armed attack.
Meanwhile, authorities have shut schools in five districts in Central Kwara State, fearing they could be targets of armed gangs after 6 deadly attack on the Eruku church earlier in the week.
There have been a spate of attacks by bandits, including the abduction on Monday of 25 schoolgirls from a boarding school in northwestern Kebbi State, compelling President Bola Tinubu to postpone foreign travels.
“The (Kwara state) government is determined to curtail the activities of kidnappers who may want to use schoolchildren as human shields,” Lawal Olohungbebe, the Kwara state education commissioner, said in a statement on Thursday.
Lawal Olohungbebe said the school closures would remain in place until security agencies give clearance for normal activities to resume.
On Tuesday evening, gunmen had attacked a church in Kwara state, which borders Republic of Benin in the West of Nigeria, killing at least two people and kidnapping the pastor and 37 other worshippers.
The spike in security breaches has placed Nigeria under scrutiny watch from U.S. President Donald Trump who in early November threatened military action over alleged genocidal attacks of Christians in the country.
But Nigeria government has refuted the allegation, saying claims that Christians face persecution misrepresent a complex security situation and unfair to efforts to safeguard religious freedom.
Besides, Tinubu had dispatched a delegation led by the country’s national security advisor, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, to meet United States lawmakers and government officials on the matter.
Also, President Bola Tinubu has asked the Minister of State for Defence, Alhaji Bello Matawalle, to relocate to Kebbi State over the abduction of 24 schoolgirls in the state.
Matawalle, who was a former governor of Zamfara State, was asked to remain in the state to monitor security efforts to secure the release of the abducted students.
Gunmen abducted 24 students of Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School in Maga town, Kebbi State, around 4 am on Monday.
Matawalle, who is expected to arrive in Birni-Kebbi on Friday, gained some experience in dealing with banditry and mass kidnapping during his tenure as governor of Zamfara State from 2019 to 2023.
On 26 February 2021, armed bandits abducted 279 female students aged between 10 and 17 at the Government Girls Science Secondary School, a boarding school in Jangebe, in Zamfara State. The bandits released all the hostages on 2 March 2021.
President Tinubu had postponed his scheduled trip to Johannesburg, South Africa, and Luanda, Angola, as he awaited further security briefings on the kidnapped Kebbi schoolgirls and the attack on Christ Apostolic Church worshippers in Eruku, Kwara State.
