The criminal elements that abducted a Kaduna State-based ophthalmologist, Ganiya Olawale-Popoola, her husband, an Air Force officer, Nurudeen Popoola, and their teenage guest, AbdulMugniy Folaranmi, have threatened to kill them if the families fail to pay the N100m ransom, they requested for.
The victims were kidnapped at the National Eye Centre Quarters located at the Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State on December 27, 2023.
A family source who spoke to Punch on conditions of anonymity, said that despite efforts made by the family to negotiate a reduction in the ransom, the abductors had insisted on the N100m ransom.
It was gathered that nothing was heard from the kidnappers until the fourth day after the abduction when they called and demanded the payment of N100m as a ransom before their release from captivity.
The family source said that the kidnappers allegedly threatened to kill the couple if the N100m was not paid before January 18.
The kidnappers reached out to the family on Friday, January 26, insisting that they would kill the victims if the ransom was not paid.
“The kidnappers reached out to us on Friday. Anytime they reached out, they asked one of the victims who understood Hausa and English to speak with us. They insisted that they were not going back on the N100m ransom,” the source said.
"We have pleaded with them to even consider collecting N20m which the family was able to raise but they refused. Everyone in the family is in a state of confusion as to what could be done.”
The source further stated that when the family reached out to the Air Force and police authorities, they were told that they were working to secure their release without getting the victims hurt while appealing to the necessary authorities to help secure the release of their family.
"We have reached out to the police and the Air force but what they kept telling us was that they were working to get them released from their abductors. They (the police and Air Force) told us that they had been careful not to get the victims injured while rescuing them.
"We are appealing as a family to the Nigerian government to help us secure the release of our family members. It has been over a month since they were abducted and we are exhausted as a family. There is no way we can raise the N100m ransom the kidnappers are demanding,” the source said.
When contacted on Monday, the Kaduna State Police Public Relations Officer, Mansir Hassan, said the command was making efforts to get the abductees released without casualties.
"There are lots of kidnapping cases that we recorded in recent times. We have been able to rescue some of the victims and arrest some of the kidnappers. The police are not relenting in making sure that all the abducted victims are rescued from their abductors but we want to make sure there is no casualty while we are rescuing them,” Hassan disclosed.
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