My experience in negotiation, rescue of Nabeeha’s sisters – Uncle

• ‘Today would have been Nabeeha’s convocation’

Sherifdeen Al-Kadriyah Akanbi is a lecturer in the Department of Religion, History and Heritage Studies, Kwara State University (KWASU), Malete. In this interview, the indigene of Ilọrin and the uncle of Nabeeha, who was killed by bandits that also kidnapped her father and five other sisters, talked about his experience during the process of their release, among other details.

Daily Trust Saturday: How did you get to know about the incident?

Sherifdeen Al-Kadriyah Akanbi: Alhaji Mansoor Al-Kadriyah, the father of the girls, is my elder brother. We were the first to be called about two hours later by the wife. Later, my immediate elder brother, Abbas Al-Kadriyah, an engineer, who lives in Nasarawa Local Government, also got in touch with me, that he had been calling Alhaji Abdulfatai, who was killed during the foiled rescue operation, but was unable to reach him.

How was your involvement in the rescue operation?

Although I was in Ilọrin when the incident happened, what we did that night was to calm the wife and contact the police in Abuja, who initially told us that Alhaji Abdulfatai was in the hospital receiving medical treatment from gunshot wounds. We only tried to manage the information within the family.

When did you leave Ilọrin for Abuja?

It was a double tragedy for the family losing a brother who had a wife with a child and the seven family members who were kidnapped. The kidnappers released their father on Thursday. But the patriarch of the family, Alhaji Abdullahi Hassan Al-Kadriyah, who is the Chief Imam of Ansarul-Islam, mandated my elder sister, a cousin and I to join them in Abuja to visit the bereaved wife of our brother to console her and also join efforts to ensure the girls’ release.

How was your experience during the rescue efforts?

At the initial stage when the kidnappers called the family through their father’s phone, their tone was harsh and strict before they started calling the wife. Initially, they demanded N200million from our brother, who told them that he was only a staff of the National Population Commission (NPC) and not a wealthy person. That utterance made them furious and they beat him seriously before they later agreed for N60million and he was released to go and get it. The kidnappers used to call daily to ask for when we were bringing the money.

Our attempt to negotiate with them was something else. Most times they spoke to us in Hasua but they also communicated in Yoruba. During the negotiation, some authorities, which I don’t want to reveal, were even telling us to be ‘reasonable’ in our negotiation so that they would not think we were just taking them for a ride. So we tried to negotiate N10million despite that we didn’t have money. It was very disturbing. On Friday, around 10:30pm, they called and said we should come and get a message at a particular place after we were unable to raise the money. We least expected that they would go to that extent of killing Nabeeha, who was a graduate of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria and would have convocated on Saturday (today).

How was the process of getting her corpse?

The day was unforgettable for us. The worst of all is that during negotiation, if they laughed you had to laugh with them or the girls would be in trouble. It was at the police station that they increased the ransom to N100million while we were yet to pick the corpse of Nabeeha, and warned that they would be sending a ‘message’ daily if we refused to meet their demand. It was very heartless. And with the other sisters still with them, you can imagine our predicament. It was something else when we even tried to negotiate N65million.

How did you later locate the ‘message’?

We started the journey to go and get the corpse around past 12 and brought her to Bwari around past 2pm. Being a case of kidnap, those we were dealing with were very smart in terms of intelligence, sophisticated weapons and what have you, so we also had to be smart in handling the situation.

The first thing we did was to report at the Bwari police station in Abuja, where the DPO gave us two men to follow us to Tarfa police station in Kaduna State, which is in charge of the jurisdiction where she was murdered. When the team got there to check what sort of message they sent because we never knew it would be her corpse, they saw four corpses altogether, but were able to identify Nabeeha.

Even before they got there, some informants had alerted the police at Tarfa about the discovery of the four corpses, Nabeeha, a mother and her daughter and another man. They were deposited at Umar Musa Yar’dau Hospital mortuary.

Seeing Nabeeha’s corpse the way she was killed shocked me to the marrow, but as a believer, we have to take it as a great test from Allah and be conscious of how we react not to fail the test.

After we claimed the corpse, it was moved to the Emir of Bwari’s palace for spiritual bath and Janazah before we proceeded to the Muslim cemetery for her burial. It was just a grave that separated that of our late brother, Abdulfatai and Nabeeha and that scene evoked tears from many of us. It will be difficult to forget.

What was your conversation with the girls while in captivity?

The first day the children called, they requested to speak with their mother after a kidnapper who was escorting them to a stream to fetch water obliged them with his phone to call home. I witnessed such situations twice. But we later understood that the elder sister was forced to go and see her corpse to traumatise her and determine the account she would relate to the family. When I had the chance to speak with them, I just spoke on faith.

How would you describe Nabeeha?

She was a mujahidah (female martyr). A check on her X account before her death will expose you to some of her posts and let you have a glimpse of her disposition. She was a genius, a believer and brave soul for the family. We later discovered that she graduated with a first class. She was a special person. We beseech the Almighty to admit her into the highest part of paradise.

After the kidnappers increased the ransom, did they release the girls immediately?

The fact is that security agents – police and military – worked seriously. They had surrounded the place where the girls were held. The ransom was paid on Tuesday. Two other different families met with us, who also came to deliver ransom to them. However, they held on to the girls for three days after that. They were being smart, knowing that the security operatives were after them.

Now, if the kidnappers could not be arrested despite intelligence, surrounding the area and all other efforts of our security agents, then there is something fishy about the whole issue of kidnapping in Nigeria. On the day, we agreed on the ransom and they assured us that they would no longer torture or subject the girls to any further punishment and we ‘laughed’ together after securing that ‘understanding’

There had been some comments on the issue of the deployment of the funds Nigerians raised, led by a former Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami. What is the situation?

We thank Nigerians greatly for the love, support and concern throughout the process. The very day we discovered that the money had been completed with the N50million donation through a friend of the former minister, we collapsed all the avenues we used to seek for funds within and outside Nigeria. We didn’t want people to think that we were trying to use the situation to cash out.

When we started collecting donations, some people said we should give daily updates but we rejected the suggestion because we knew that the kidnappers were watching and could lead to an increase the ransom. I don’t think those saying that understand the value of life.

How did the family receive the release of the girls?

When they were released, many people celebrated and we could see the girls smiling in a viral video that morning. But that was before they got home and realised the death of their uncle, Mallam Abdulfatai.

They are now faced with the loss of Nabeeha and the memory of being under captivity for 19 days. They need rehabilitation, psychological and medical attention to get them back to normal.

For family members, it is a mixed emotion reliving memories of the late Nabeeha and her uncle, Abdulfatai, with his surviving wife and child.

The kidnappers also demanded many other things. Those with the experience will know what I am talking about. We don’t pray for anybody to experience what we went through.

With the killing of Nabeeha, most reports still put the number of victims at six, can you clarify this?

My brother, Alhaji Mansoor Al-Kadriyah had five female children, Najeebah, Nabeeha, Nazeera, Hadeebah and Haneesa (twins). The last victim is Mardiyah, one of their cousins who was also kidnapped; they were always together.

What is your message or advice?

Things are getting worse and the government should try to do the needful by assisting the security agencies with necessary weapons and equipment to really perform their jobs, while the families of operatives who lost their lives in the course of duty should not be abandoned.

Kidnapping is becoming a catastrophe and we must strengthen our intelligence. Watching the police officers going to claim the corpse in the forest with tattered helmets and bulletproof vests was saddening despite their great sacrifices.

Our patriarch taught us that whatever happens to us, no matter the situation, it is the will of Allah. This really strengthened our faith during the whole process.