Nnamdi Azikiwe Varsity Female Student Regains Freedom From Abductors After Paying Ransom

 

A female student of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka (UNIZIK), Anambra State, Francisca Chioma, who was abducted by kidnappers last week has regained freedom five days after an undisclosed amount of ransom was paid.

 

Chioma’s release was made known by the Chief Security Officer of the university, Ken Chukwurah, on Thursday.

 

SaharaReporters had reported that students of the institution had called for donations to enable them raise the sum of N2 million ransom for Chioma’s release.

 

Chioma, who is a student of the Science Education Department at UNIZIK, was reportedly abducted by suspected kidnappers on Friday on her way to attend a burial in Omasi community in Ayamelum Local Government Area of the State.

Whereas the kidnappers were said to have demanded N10 million ransom, it was later re-negotiated down to N2 million.

 

Confirming her release to PUNCH, Chukwurah who said Chioma was kidnapped along with her friend at the Omasiunu area of the state was quoted as saying, “She has been released. The debriefing we got from her was that she and her friend were not their target. 

 

“They were just unfortunate to be around the area when the kidnapping operation was going on and they fell into their hands.

 

“The kidnappers were targeting to abduct one academic doctor and a member of the same family they were going to pay a condolence visit to. They heard that the man was coming in a public transport and they laid ambush.

 

“She confirmed that the kidnappers later abducted the academic doctor, who was their target and from their interactions, the assailants came from outside the state. She said the kidnappers made them trek a long distance in the bush and crossed them to Nsukka in Enugu State.

 

“When the incident was happening, we were interacting with security agencies because we initially thought it was not true, but the security agencies sent us a coordinate where they tracked them to somewhere in Enugu State.

 

“From the interactions with her, she said the family members and friends raised some amount of money and eventually the money was paid to the kidnappers, but we do not have the details of the actual amount that was paid.

 

“They said the man who was their target was eventually asked to pay N20 million, but negotiations were still going on between the man and the kidnappers before they were eventually released.”