Kidnappers abducted Najeebah, her five sisters and their father in their residence in Bwari but one of them, Nabeeha was unfortunately killed by the kidnappers who were said to have been angry by the delay in receiving the ransom of N60 million demanded for their release.
The father of the six sisters of the Al-Kadriyar family who were kidnapped in the Bwari area of Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city has narrated how their kidnappers overpowered Nigeria Police Force personnel who were mobilised to rescue his family.
SaharaReporters had reported how the Federal Capital Territory Police Command Anti-Kidnapping Squad in collaboration with troops of the Nigerian Army confirmed the rescue of the kidnap victims on Saturday evening.
Kidnappers abducted Najeebah, her five sisters and their father in their residence in Bwari but one of them, Nabeeha was unfortunately killed by the kidnappers who were said to have been angry by the delay in receiving the ransom of N60 million demanded for their release.
Nabeeha’s killing sparked outrage in the country with many Nigerians on social media lamenting the escalating insecurity in the country.
Another uncle of the deceased, Alhaji Abdulfatai, who was with the police during an effort to rescue the abductees, was gunned down by the kidnappers, while two among the three injured policemen hit by bullets during the fire exchange reportedly died.
Speaking in an interview with AriseNews TV, the father of the girls alleged that at first, he thought the terrorists were armed robbers and he called his brother immediately he cited them in his compound as they tried to break the door and windows.
He said his brother mobilised the police to his community to rescue them but unfortunately, they were overwhelmed by the terrorists.
He added that it was after the gun battle that he and his six children were led into the forest by the terrorists.
He said he took them a journey of several hours before they could reach the camp of the terrorists.
He said, “I picked up my phone. I was trying to see who I could call, neighbours around. My memory was like 'who do I call?' I was confused. But along the line, I was able to pick myself up and said let me call my brother. And I called my brother. I said where are you, there is a problem, we have been attacked by thieves.
“Within 15 minutes. I called back, he said Bros, I am close to you. That’s OK. So I was a bit relaxed. The guys, I have already sighted them by the window. They pulled the window and they broke the glass. I knew they were in full force. There was nothing I could do than for me to surrender myself to them. I know what it is that you need. One of them said ‘Ina kudi’ (where is money), I looked at him and I said I don’t have money.
“He marched me out of my room and my children too. They had already broken the door. They used a long jigger they saw in my compound. They broke the doors and got access to my children.
“Their intention was to lead us out of that community to the main road. So I had the confidence that at least the police would come or other security people would come, that would make them leave us and run away.
“When I noticed my brother was driving in. I was happy. He was the one that actually led the police to my community. When I sighted his car, they (the kidnappers) had already positioned themselves again. When they understood that they were coming but they didn’t know who was coming. But they saw the police light on, they knew quite alright that these guys had come for them
“They told us to lie down, and I told my children, just go down. Three of them now went to a building not far from the main road, trying to gain entrance to that building. I was seeing them using arrows and all sorts of things to break the security lights. It was from there they now exchanged bullets (with the police).
“I saw my brother was trying to drive further, the next thing was for him to reverse back. The reverse that he did, I believed they must have shot him. So the police vehicle got stuck. They were all exchanging gunfire with themselves. After a few minutes, I think the police stopped. They could not advance further. I know they must have injured my brother or the police. For the police vehicle could not to advance further, meaning that they could not withstand the guys.
“Thereafter, they were able to regroup themselves, and get their strength that they had injured these people. They now asked us to stand up and go back to the village, take another route to get out of that place.”