They came in as armed robbers asking for money – Nabeeha’s father recounts kidnapping ordeal
The father of the six abducted girls, one of whom tragically lost her life in captivity, has shared the harrowing account of how the bandits gained access to their family compound.
Following the abduction of the Al-Kadriyar sisters, which led to a demand of N60 million ransom, and the devastating loss of one of the girls, a student at Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), the father recounted the terrifying experience during an interview with Arise TV News.
He described how he initially mistook the armed individuals for robbers when he first spotted them in their compound. Seeking help, he called his brother, Alhaji Abdulfatai, who was accompanied by the police in an attempt to rescue the girls.
Tragically, Abdulfatai lost his life in the rescue effort, and three police officers were injured during the confrontation with the assailants.
The father expressed his appreciation for the brave efforts made by his brother and the police, who mobilised to rescue the girls.
Despite their valiant efforts, they were ultimately overwhelmed by the attackers.
The family continues to grapple with the devastating loss of one of their own and the trauma from the entire ordeal.
He said, “I picked up my phone. I was trying to see who I could call, neighbours around. My memory was like ‘who do I call?’ I was confused. But along the line, I was able to pick myself up and said let me call my brother. And I called my brother. I said where are you, there is a problem, we have been attacked by thieves.
“Within 15 minutes. I called back, he said Bros, I am close to you. That’s OK. So I was a bit relaxed. The guys, I have already sighted them by the window. They pulled the window and they broke the glass. I knew they were in full force.
“There was nothing I could do than for me to surrender myself to them. I know what it is that you need. One of them said ‘Ina kudi’ (where is money), I looked at him and I said I don’t have money.
“He marched me out of my room and my children too. They had already broken the door. They used a long jigger they saw in my compound. They broke the doors and got access to my children.
“Their intention was to lead us out of that community to the main road. So I had the confidence that at least the police would come or other security people would come, that would make them leave us and run away.
“When I noticed my brother was driving in. I was happy. He was the one that actually led the police to my community. When I sighted his car, they (the kidnappers) had already positioned themselves again. When they understood that they were coming but they didn’t know who was coming. But they saw the police light on, they knew quite alright that these guys had come for them.
READ ALSO: Kidnappers kill one of six sisters abducted in Abuja
“They told us to lie down, and I told my children, just go down. Three of them now went to a building not far from the main road, trying to gain entrance to that building. I was seeing them using arrows and all sorts of things to break the security lights. It was from there they now exchanged bullets (with the police).
“I saw my brother was trying to drive further, the next thing was for him to reverse back. The reverse that he did, I believed they must have shot him. So the police vehicle got stuck. They were all exchanging gunfire with themselves.
“After a few minutes, I think the police stopped. They could not advance further. I know they must have injured my brother or the police. For the police vehicle could not to advance further, meaning that they could not withstand the guys.
“Thereafter, they were able to regroup themselves, and get their strength that they had injured these people. They now asked us to stand up and go back to the village, take another route to get out of that place,” he said.
Nigerians expressed anger and frustration altogether when the bandits killed one of the girls in the forest when they did not receive the rasnom they demanded.
At the time, former Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, was widely criticised when he announced that he spoke with a friend to raise money for the release of the remaining sisters.
Some days later, the Minister of Defence, Mohammed Badaru kicked against crowd funding by Nigerians to raise ransom for the abducted citizens, as he argued that he encouraged the criminals.
