The relatives of a businessman who was abducted from his sickbed in Sankara, Ringim Local Government Area of Jigawa State, said he died in the custody of the kidnappers despite a N5 million ransom paid for his release.
PREMIUM TIMES reported on May 30 how Yusuf Maifata was abducted from his residence by gunmen at about 2 a.m.
A relative of the victim, Isa Inuwa-Sankara, on Tuesday, told PREMIUM TIMES that the kidnappers first demanded N40 million but called back to reduce the ransom to N5 million as they said Mr Maifata’s health had deteriorated.
“They asked us to deliver the ransom at Falgore forest in Kano which we did.
“After we paid the N5 million, they told us to come back to Mallammadori forest in Jigawa and take his dead body.
“We communicated (the information) to our people in Jigawa who rushed to the area in search of the corpse. But the kidnappers later called back and said why did we invite many people, that we should go back and they would bury the corpse.
“For three weeks after, we didn’t hear anything again as the kidnappers phone contact was no longer connecting. Thus, we believed that he was dead and they had buried him,” Mr Inuwa-Sankara said.
The police spokesperson in Jigawa, Abdu Jinjiri, on Thursday said the police also received the information about the death of Mr Maifata in the custody of the kidnappers. He said they were still searching for the corpse.
He, however, said the police were not aware of any ransom payment by the relatives of the victim.
“We only learnt that he died in captivity but we are yet to find his dead body,” Mr Jinjiri said .
The family source said Mr Maifata was recuperating from a serious illness when he was kidnapped.
Mr Maifata was a renowned businessman and contractor supplying foods items to government boarding schools in Jigawa State. (Premium Times)
