A 300-level student from the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), Ogun State, identified as Christiana Idowu, was some days ago abducted along the Ikorodu-Yaba Road.
Christiana had been en route from her home in the Itaoluwo area of Ikorodu to the University of Lagos (UNILAG) in Yaba, where she was completing her industrial training.
A family source, who requested anonymity due to security concerns, revealed that following the abduction of their loved one, the kidnappers initially demanded a ransom of ₦3 million for her release.
It was gathered that the abductors reached out to her family through her phone and demanded a ₦3 million ransom.
The family, according to their source, begged the kidnappers, who eventually agreed to accept ₦350,000 as a partial payment. This amount was transferred to a specified account, but the kidnappers did not release Christiana after receiving the payment.
“They are communicating with the family through her WhatsApp, and they demanded ₦3 million. We appealed to them, and it was reduced to ₦1 million, then ₦500,000, and later, they asked that we pay ₦350,000.
“After we paid the ₦350,000 ransom, they refused to release her to us and were demanding that we send the bank statement of the account we made the transfer from before they would release her to us.
“We have reported the matter to the police and can not handle it as a family again. We are urging the government and the public to come to our aid,” the source was quoted as saying.
When contacted, Folashade Oluwole, the Ogun State Deputy Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), stated she had not yet been informed of the situation but promised to follow up.