Bandits hold newborn in captivity, flog mother over N50 million ransom

Story from Saleh INUWA, Kano

A heavily pregnant woman abducted from Mando in Kaduna in July has delivered a child in captivity.

The victim, who visited her ailing mother on the day bandits struck, was abducted alongside two of her sisters.

Commenting on the situation, the victim’s husband, Mohammed Alabi, said: “My wife gave birth at the kidnappers’ camp on 2nd August 2022 and since then, both mother and child have not received any medical care and to make matters worse, we learnt they were being maltreated and flogged. We are all dying emotionally and physically, so we are appealing to whoever God will use to secure their release to please help us free them.”

Recounting the family’s ordeal, the father of the victims, Malam AbdulWahab Yusuf, said the bandits broke into their Mando home around 1:05 am on the day of the attack.

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He said: “My two daughters used to take care of their mother who is sick, but unfortunately, that day their elder sister, who is pregnant came from her husband’s house to look after her mother when the bandits broke into the house and kidnapped my three daughters.”

“They initially asked for N140 million, but now they have reduced the ransom to N50 million. The family has been adversely affected by the trauma. My wife, who could walk unaided before the incident, now uses a wheelchair. We just carried out a surgery on her. I have not been myself, I cannot sleep. Once it is night, I don’t know how my body feels.”

Also speaking, the elder brother of the kidnapped sisters, Kabiru Yusuf, said: “My sisters lamented to me on Sunday that they were being maltreated and that the bandit’s commander wants to abandon them in the camp. We are continuously pleading with them as we have sold everything we have but what we raised is not tangible and we don’t have anything more to sell again.”

He appealed to the Federal and Kaduna state governments, charity organisations, philanthropists and well-spirited individuals to assist the family in securing the release of their loved ones.

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