Gunmen-1.webp
The Digest:

Armed bandits have given the Isapa community in Kwara State a one-week deadline to pay a N300 million ransom for ten abducted residents, threatening to kill the victims and launch a deadly new attack if their demands are unmet.

Key Points:
  • Bandits who kidnapped 10 people from Isapa, Kwara State, on November 25 have issued a one-week ransom ultimatum.
  • The initial demand of N500 million was negotiated down to N300 million (approx. $300,000).
  • Community negotiators pleaded to pay N5 million, but the bandits rejected the offer.
  • The kidnappers threatened to kill the abductees and attack the community again if the ransom was not paid.
  • They also claimed responsibility for a recent attack on the Ejiba community in neighboring Kogi State.
  • The headhunter of the Isapa community, Mr. Adeyeye, confirmed the communication with the bandits.
  • The ultimatum exposes the extreme vulnerability of communities to well-armed criminal groups.
This is not merely a kidnapping; it is an act of communal extortion where human lives are the currency, forcing a rural population to bargain under the shadow of a promised massacre, a stark illustration of governance's stormy frontiers.

Sources: Leadership