The family of Mansoor Alkadriyar has countered a claim by the Nigerian Police Force, NPF, that it secured the release of five sisters of late Nabeeha Alkadriyar.
In a statement issued on Sunday, the FCT command spokesperson, Josephine Adeh, had said the anti-kidnapping unit of command secured the release of five abducted sisters.
But the family countered the claim, saying that the girls were released after ransom was paid, and not rescued.
Commenting on how the ladies were rescued, an uncle to the victims, Jamiu Salman, told Daily Trust that they received a call from one of the victims around 8 p.m. on Saturday that they were released by their captors and gave the details of the location.
“On getting the information, I and a younger brother to their father mobilised ourselves and left for the Jere junction, where we sighted some military men and approached them to introduce ourselves.
“They provided us with an escort down to a bush around Gurara Dam, where they stopped. We proceeded and met the children. We arrived back home after 11p.m. in the company of the military escort.”
He confirmed that a ransom was paid last Wednesday, though declined to disclose the exact amount.
Also speaking, a cousin of the children, Mubarak Alkadriyar, who was in the journey to bring back the children, said the bandits had earlier called them and directed them about where and who to pay the ransom.
“They released 12 people altogether, comprising five from Al-Kadriyar’s family and seven other people from three different families abducted from Dutse axis in the FCT. We jointly made the payment last Wednesday.
“It was a collective payment with the other family members. They told every family what to pay, and one person agreed to collect all the money on behalf of the others and given directives on how to bring the money,” Mr Mubarak said.
He also faulted a claim that the victims were rescued by security men, insisting that they were released by their captors after ransom was paid.
“They have done their best actually, but as I earlier said what they did was not enough. The security agencies have failed to prioritise the lives of the citizens, which is their duty.
“Because even after the ransom was paid, should they come in to say they want to rescue them?
“The bandits shouldn’t have stayed conveniently from Wednesday down to Saturday night and at their convenience to release them to us, and they left thereafter without anybody confronting them,” he added.
