13 abducted Kaduna children still in captivity 23 days after

Thirteen children who were abducted by suspected bandits in the Katari area of Kaduna on January 6, 2024, have spent 23 days in captivity.

The bandits reportedly killed a 53-year-old baker, Mr Tijani Amedu, and abducted his 13 relatives, who are mainly children and were travelling alongside him, in the Katari area of the state.

The incident happened while the victims were returning to Kaduna after visiting Warri, Delta State.

The Edo State-born businessman’s brother, Rasaq, in a chat on Sunday, when asked about the children, told our correspondent, “They are still with the kidnappers.”

When asked what the police had done concerning the matter, he said, “Nothing please.”

While narrating how the incident happened over a week ago, Rasaq said, “They came to visit for the Christmas and New Year holidays. But they got attacked by bandits when they were going back to Kaduna, using two buses. I was told the bandits started shooting on seeing them. The first bus drove through them but the second bus stopped. My elder brother and the 13 kids were on the second bus. The bandits took all of them.”

He said the family members later got to know when the children started communicating from their captivity. The kidnappers, according to the family, are asking for N50m after negotiating from N200m.

“My elder brother’s head was hit and he fell (leading to his death),” Rasaq said, according to the information given to him by the children, adding, “They started (the ransom) negotiation from N200m, but now, we’re at N50m.”

Zinab, the wife of Amedu, who confirmed her husband was killed, had said the family was seeking help on the matter.

“They killed my husband and they went away with 13 children,” Zinab earlier told our correspondent in a telephone interview, adding that the family was seeking “prayers and help from anybody who can help. We have 13 of our children with them.”

When contacted on Sunday over the incident, the Kaduna State Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Mansur Hassan, said the command would investigate. “We will investigate and get back to you,” the PPRO said in a telephone interview. He had yet to get back to our correspondent as of the time of filing this report.

Last week, kidnappers freed a man, Akeem Kareem, after spending about three days in the den of kidnappers who abducted him along the Benin-Ore Expressway.

Kareem’s son, Sefiu, who confirmed this, noted that his father was released after the payment of N3m ransom to the kidnappers.