I sold 3-bedroom house to pay ransom – Kidnap victim

A man, Isyaka Labaran, has narrated how he was compelled to sell a three-bedroom flat to pay ransom when he was kidnapped by gunmen at Kwaita village in Kwali Area Council of the FCT.

Labaran, who sells veterinary drugs at Kwaita village, spoke exclusively with City & Crime on Monday, recalling how the gunmen broke into his house on Thursday, September, 2023 and whisked him and three of his neighbours away at gunpoint.

He said, “That very day, I had just returned from Kwali market late evening, took my bath, had my dinner, and shortly thereafter, slept off, until around 11:23 pm when I heard strange banging on my door.”

He said the gunmen led him and three of his kidnapped neighbours and forced them to trek in the bush for two days before they finally arrived at their camp.

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“Luckily that day, my wife and my three children were not at home as they had travelled to Zaria, my hometown, where she went to see her sick mother,” Isyaka said.

He said the gunmen held him for two weeks at their den, adding that they beat and inflicted injuries on them when they were demanding N20 million ransom from his family.

He said his abductors later reduced the ransom to N12 million after intensive negotiations, noting that he had to engage someone who helped him to sell his house at N3.2 million.

“And even after selling the house at N3.2 million, I had to sell some of my property again to raise a total of N8 million, including recharge cards, drugs and alcoholic drinks for them before they later released me,” he said.

Labaran, who said he resided at Anguwar Hausawa in Kwaita, added that he was forced to relocate to Niger State, where he is staying with one of his relations along with his family.

“And as I speak, I am now into dry season farming here because my business has been crippled as I have no money to go back to my former business,” he said.

He, therefore, called on government to address the issue of insecurity across the country, especially the spate of kidnapping and banditry in the North and the FCT.

“Government needs to do something about this issue of kidnapping and banditry in the country. Because I believe there are some people that have also sold their property to pay ransom too,” he added.

Our reporter recalled that a similar incident happened at Naharati in Abaji Area Council early last year, where a man, identified as Yohana Lucky, also had to sell his house to pay the ransom and return to his village.