Abductors of the pregnant woman identified as Mrs Okeke who was abducted by gunmen with two other children aged 9 and 12 in their homes in the Juji area of Kaduna have made a demand of N10 million for each of their victims.
The gunmen numbering about 20 stormed the area at about 1:00 am on Friday, shooting into the air and forcing residents out of their homes.
A source close to the family of the abducted persons told our correspondent that the gunmen called the line of the mother of the 12-year-old boy and asked that they be given the contact of the husband of the pregnant lady as well as that of the parents of the nine-year-old girl. They then demanded N10 million from each of them.
The gunmen had made for the resident of the pregnant woman, a mother of three whose husband is said to be out of town and forced her to go with them. The 12-year-old boy was also abducted with his mother in the same compound but the mother who had last week sustained an injury from a motorcycle fall was unable to cope with the trek and the gunmen abandoned her in the bush but went away with their other victims. The lady found her way back to Juji at about 8:30 am that same Friday.
Our correspondent learnt that the gunmen also went to the compound next to that of the pregnant woman and took with them a nine-year-old girl who was unable to escape as they fired shots in the air.
An eye witness said, “We heard shots around 1:00 am and all of us ran in different directions. I ran to a nearby bush and hid until they left before I came out. It was this morning that we discovered that they left with the nine-year-old girl and the son of the woman who was abandoned but was able to find her way back to Juji this morning.”
Our correspondent learnt that the police were in the area shortly after the incident. Officials of the state government were also said to have visited.
The Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Yakubu Sabo when contacted said he learnt there was an incident in the area. He could not be reached for further comments.
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