,,,,,,,We are not aware of kidnap story-Police.
The nine members of Jehovah’s Christian Witnesses,comprising of an expectant mother, said to have been kidnapped in Kogi State, north-central Nigeria on February 17,2024 have regained their freedom.
Sources said the victims were set free by their abductors at the midnight of Sunday afternoon February 25, 2024, according to News Express.
“Everyone of them is fine, including the pregnant woman,” another source familiar with the saga told News Express.
The Reporters gathered that nine Christians were on their way from Kabba to Lokoja, the Kogi state capital to attend the annual gathering of Jehovah’s Witnesses,known as Circuit Assembly,when they were abducted on Kabba – Lokoja Road on Saturday, February 17.
Those kidnapped include two women, four men and two female students. They had taken off at Kingdom Hall, Kabba that Saturday morning, hoping to join their brothers and sisters from other parts of the state for the spiritual banquet, when they were abducted.
Reports said that the kidnappers later called to demand, first, for N30 million but later reduced the ransom to N2.6 million, after negotiation.
It is not clear if any ransom was eventually paid to secure the release of the captives, after they have spent a week in the kidnappers’ den.
However, the Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, for the Police Command in Kogi State,SP.William Ovie Aya,in a telephone interview with the Correspondent of The Reporters on Sunday evening in Lokoja, said he could not confirm the release of the victims.
“In the first place, the police Command is not aware of any report indicating that the said persons were kidnapped.
“I have got in touch with the Divisional Police Officer,DPO, in the area mentioned and he denied that such incident happened in his area on the date mentioned,”he said.
Source: News Express.
Additional information by The Reporters.
Edited by Dawud Ahmed.
