Idris who hails from Babban-Tunga was whisked away in the early hours of Monday, according to the Secretary to the Government of Niger State (SSG), Alhaji Ahmed Ibrahim Matane.
Residents of Babban-Tunga, a community off Abuja/Kaduna highway in Niger State have narrated how the state Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Alhaji Muhammed Sanni Idris, was abducted.
Idris who hails from Babban-Tunga was whisked away in the early hours of Monday, according to the Secretary to the Government of Niger State (SSG), Alhaji Ahmed Ibrahim Matane.
He was said to have been abducted from his residence in the community on Sunday night by gunmen said to number about 20, who whisked him away through a nearby bush.
According to Daily Trust, a younger brother of the victim, Salisu Idris said the kidnappers called him on phone twice around 10am on Monday, using the victim’s contact number, to confirm that he was in their custody.
“They said they would think about the ransom amount and call back when they are ready,” he said.
Speaking also, the commissioner’s first wife, said she was with him on Saturday before returning to Minna on Sunday evening.
“He called me on phone around 11 pm to hear about my journey and bid me good night.
“Later around 12-midnight while I was already asleep, another call came in from the family home, informing me about the abduction, but not specifically detailing the victim. My children were the ones that first got wind of the incident, but decided not to inform me,” she said.
The commissioner’s first wife, who is based in Minna, said she had to return to Babban-Tunga on Monday morning following the incident.
She was about to return to Minna when she accepted to spare some time to speak with our reporter on the incident.
She said the commissioner’s second wife, who is based in the community, was with their husband in their residence when the attackers struck and whisked him away.
It was gathered that, after seizing a number of phones from the house, including that of the commissioner and his wife’s, they kept asking for more phones which she insisted there was none but they kept on slapping her, and later threatened to take her along, but that she pleaded with them that her newborn baby was ill.
“At that juncture, one of the kidnappers grabbed the baby by his hands and shook him continuously, saying ‘is this the baby that you say is not feeling well?” She said she was grief-stricken and almost passed out, as she couldn’t bear the unsettling situation.
“However, they later changed their mind as they would not want her to be a liability to them.”