Abaji vice chair killed after N3m ransom

Gunmen who kidnapped the Vice Chairman of Abaji Area Council, Mohammed Rizoma, have killed him after they collected N3 million ransom.

A close relative of the vice chairman confirmed the death to our reporter on telephone on Saturday.

He said the vice chairman died from beating in the hands of the kidnapers when he attempted to escape from a forest last Tuesday night.

The relative said the vice chairman and his driver, Hussaini Peter, and his son, Mohammed Yakubu, had been held captive since Monday until when the N3 million they demanded was paid to them on Thursday.

He said the kidnapers threatened to kill the driver and the son if they revealed the death of the vice chairman.

He added that it was when the kidnapers released the driver and the son that the family members got to know of the death.

The source said the remains of the vice chairman were yet to be seen, but that a combined team of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) and members of the vigilante from Izom in Niger State had been combing a forest between Numbwa and Izom villages since Thursday to recover the corpse.

“In fact, I was among the team that volunteered to join the SARS team and some vigilante members to search for the body of the vice chairman, but up till now, his corpse is yet to be found,” he said.

The Niger police spokesperson, DSP Mohammed Abubakar DanInna, could not be reached on his mobile phone.

The vice chairman, his son Mohammed Yakubu, and his driver, Hussaini Peter, were abducted by gunmen on Monday night on the LambataIzom Road near Suleja in Niger State. State