Sani Ribadu, the kidnapped brother of the former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Nuhu Ribadu, has escaped from his abductors, family sources have told PREMIUM TIMES.
Another of the Ribadu brothers, Arabi, told this newspaper that his brother escaped from his abductors “around 2a.m. in the bushes surrounding Girei Local Government where they kept him”.
He said Sani then trekked to a nearby village, Sangere, arriving there at about 4a.m. where he waited to observe his Fajr prayer (early morning prayer) at the Mosque there before taking public transport to his house in Yola, arriving around 6:03 a.m.
There were widespread speculation last night that Sani, a former chairman of Yola South local government area, was freed by his abductors. But several family members, who spoke to PREMIUM TIMES, dismissed the report, saying his whereabouts remained unknown.
Sani, police said, was abducted by three gunmen around 6:30p.m, Sunday, in his farm along the Yola-Fufore expressway.
“The three gunmen accosted the former chairman in his farm along Yola-Fufore road and asked him, alongside 12 of his workers, to lie down,” the spokesperson of the Adamawa State Command of the Nigeria Police, Othman Abubakar, told journalists in Yola. “But four of the workers managed to flee the scene leaving Ribadu and eight workers.”
According to him, the gunmen initially bundled Mr. Ribadu into his Toyota Tundra but suddenly changed their minds. They then transferred him to a white Starlet and escaped through the route leading to Mayo Belwa Local Government.
Mr. Abubakar, a deputy superintendent of police, could not be reached Friday morning for comments on Sani’s return. He is yet to return multiple calls made to him by this newspaper.