Benue: 20 kidnap victims regain freedom after N8m ransom

At least 20 kidnapped victims, including women, from Tyomu community in Makurdi Local Government Area of Benue State have regained freedom after the payment of N8 million ransom and provision of foodstuffs and groceries worth over N500,000 to their abductors.

Our correspondent gathered that the victims were released on Thursday night in a forest along the Otukpo-Ogbadibo road, close to the border with Kogi State, after spending days in captivity.

Simon Igidi, whose wife was among the abducted victims, disclosed this to journalists in Makurdi, saying the freed victims arrived in Makurdi at about midnight and were immediately taken to hospitals for medical attention.

He said an elderly woman among the victims was released on the same Friday they were abducted and arrived at her home in Tyomu on Monday evening.

Igidi explained that the remaining 19 victims regained freedom following the payment of the ransom and provision of the food items.

He said that the released victims included eight women from Tyomu, three from Vandeikya and nine others from the Wurukum area of Makurdi.

Meanwhile, PureBioTech Nigeria Limited was said to have donated N1 million to support the rehabilitation of the Tyomu victims.

The donation was presented to representatives of the community by Alhaji Abdulkadir Mohammed at the company’s premises on Thursday.

Mohammed said that the gesture was part of the company’s corporate social responsibility, stressing that the ethanol-producing firm considered the humanitarian needs of its host community important.

Similarly, the Chairman of Makurdi LGA, Joseph Keffi, who reportedly visited the Tyomu community, where most of the victims reside, donated N1.5 million to support them.

Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Peter Aondongu, however, said the command was yet to receive the report.