A retired principal who was kidnapped by terrorists after volunteering to deliver a ransom to secure the release of some abducted people still languishes in captivity.
A former Senator representing Kaduna Central District, Shehu Sani on Thursday said the retired principal was still languishing in captivity because no one was willing to deliver a ransom to the kidnappers to secure his release, following his own experience.
“The kidnapped Kaduna retired Principal who went to deliver ransom is still in captivity,” Sani tweeted on Thursday.
“The community has gathered ransom to secure his release, but no one is willing to volunteer and deliver it to the bandits.”
SaharaReporters reported on Tuesday that the retired school principal whose name had yet to be ascertained had been abducted by terrorists when he volunteered to deliver the ransom demanded by the terrorists to secure the release of some people earlier kidnapped in the Birnin Gwari Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
Sani had disclosed this on Tuesday via the X platform (formerly Twitter), adding that the retired principal had spent three days in the terrorists’ den.
He wrote: “A retired School principal who volunteered to deliver ransom to kidnappers in order to secure the release of a victim has also been held by the kidnappers in Birnin Gwari LGA, Kaduna State. He’s been in captivity for 3 days now; the abductors made calls to his family for his ransom.”
Birnin Gwari has been a hotbed of terrorist assaults and kidnappings.
In September 2023, for example, the people of Birnin-Gwari raised the alarm that for nine days, bandits and other criminal elements had renewed their offensive on the Kaduna-Birnin-Gwari highway, where they had kidnapped over 44 persons.
They said the ugly situation had forced drivers and commuters plying the highway to change to other routes over fear for their lives.
Terrorists killed a warrant officer in the Nigerian Army identified as Muhammad Dalhatu in November 2022.
Dalhatu was killed by the gunmen along Birnin-Gwari/Kontangora Road in Kaduna State.