Families of 176 people kidnapped by terrorists in Kwara State’s Kaiama Local Government Area have repeated their call on the federal and state governments to swiftly secure their loved ones’ release after over six months in captivity.
This came amid reports that the abductors threatened to marry the “beautiful” female prisoners while murdering the others.
The victims’ relatives said they raised more than N155 million through community crowdfunding to secure the release of the prisoners, but the terrorists rejected the ransom, leaving the victims in captivity.
In an interview broadcast by the BBC Hausa Service, Abdul Ibrahim, a Kaiama native, claimed that the terrorists threatened to force the attractive female prisoners into marriage while killing the remaining hostages if their demands were not met.
He urged the Kwara State government, federal government, and security agencies to increase efforts to rescue the captives, as families have exhausted all available options.
The affected communities contributed over N155 million as ransom to secure the victims’ freedom, but the money was allegedly rejected by the abductors.
“We have done everything within our means. The money was raised, yet our people have not been released. Their suffering continues, and families are living in agony,” he said.
He also stated that peaceful demonstrations organised by the community had also failed to attract the desired intervention.
Also speaking, Dan Sardaukin Kaiama and Suleiman Bukata urged the federal government and security agencies to replicate the efforts that recently resulted in the rescue of abductees from Oyo State by expanding similar operations to Kaiama, where hundreds of residents have been held in terrorist camps for months.
Bukata stated that the successful rescue of the Oyo victims had restored hope among families in Kaiama, emphasising that the people deserved the same level of devotion and protection from the authorities. He observed that each extra day in captivity exposed the victims to increased risk and unimaginable agony.
Senator Adamu Aliero expressed concern about the deteriorating security situation in northern Nigeria but excused the federal government of responsibility for security operations funding.
He stated that the National Assembly had regularly supported funding requests from security services to pursue the battle against terrorism.
The senator contended that the persistence of terrorism was due to the scope and complexity of the security task, rather than insufficient funding.
He did, however, reiterate his call for the development of state police, stating that governors should be constitutionally enabled and sufficiently backed to deploy local policing structures capable of responding more effectively to security concerns in their states.
