Five sisters of the Al-Kadriyar family, who were kidnapped by bandits in the Bwari area of Abuja, have regained their freedom.
Six members of the family were kidnapped from their residence located in the Bwari Area Council of Abuja on January 2.
One of the Al-Kadriyar sisters, Nabeeha, was killed by the abductors last week. After killing the undergraduate, the bandits reportedly raised the ransom from N60 million to N100 million, while threatening to kill the remaining sisters.
Last Sunday, a former Minister of Communicatons and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Pantami, announced the mobilisation of a N50million for the Al-Kadriyar family to balance up the money realised from crowdfunding in order to pay ransom and secure the release of the remaining girls.
Taking to to her X (formerly Twitter) handle to appreciate Nigerians following their rescue by security operatives, one of the rescued sisters, Najeeba, narrated their ordeal saying: “Alhamdulilah. I’m immensely grateful for your prayers and support throughout this ordeal. This was the greatest test of my life but wallah Allah’s mercy was bountiful as well as it was endless.
Thank you all so much.
“Every single woman there saw their periods. It was hell.”
But, the police public relations officer for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Josephine Adeh, said the sisters alongside other victims kidnapped in the Bwari area, were rescued by security personnel from the Kajuru forest in Kaduna state.
Al-Kadriyar sisters and other kidnap victims were rescued from a forest in the neighbouring Kaduna State by a combined team of security operatives.
“Following the relentless advancement of the Federal Capital Territory Police Command Anti-Kidnapping squad in a concerted effort with troops of the Nigerian Army, on the heels of the kidnappers that struck the Zuma 1 area in the Bwari Area Council on the 2nd of January 2024, the FCT Police has rescued the victims and reunited them with their families.
“The operatives successfully rescued the victims around Kajuru forest in Kaduna state at about 11:30pm on Saturday 20th January 2024,” said the FCT Police spokesperson, Josephine Adeh.