Trouble Hits Zamfara as Terrorists Abduct 4 Villagers, Reject Old Naira Notes of N10 Million Ransom

Trouble Hits Zamfara as Terrorists Abduct 4 Villagers, Reject Old Naira Notes of N10 Million Ransom

  • Terrorists operating in Zamfara state have invaded a community in the Gusau Local Government Area of the state
  • The terrorists during their recent operation abducted four residents of the community and demanded a ransom of N10 million
  • The ransom to be paid for the release of the victims of abducted was later reduced to N5 million but with a directive that the money must come in the new naira notes

Some suspected terrorists have kidnapped four people from Kolo village in Gusau Local Government Area of Zamfara state.

The Punch reports that the residents of the village - a man, a woman and two children - were kidnapped and their captors have rejected the old naira notes.

Zamfara state, Kidnappers, terrorists, bandits, Bello Matawalle, naira redesign, new naira notes, CBN
Terrorists have rejected the old naira notes to be used as ransom for their victims in Zamfara state. Photo: Bello Matawalle
Source: Facebook

While demanding a ransom of N10 million before they could release the villagers, the terrorists also said that they would only be receiving the newly designed naira notes.

Read also

Naira Redesign: Jubilation as Joint Taskforce Nab Kidnappers With Ransom in 2 Key States

The Central Bank of Nigeria had earlier announced the redesign of the Nigerian naira notes including the N200, N500 and N1,000 denominations.

According to the CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, the new notes will hit the banks on December 15 while the old notes will cease to become legal tender from January 31.

Emefiele also said that the plan to redesign the naira follows the need to curtail the activities of corrupt politicians and terrorists who have hoarded the old notes obtained through various illegal means.

However, a resident of the village, Mohammed Ibrahim, who spoke on the matter said that the villages are working effortlessly to raise the money.

Ibrahim also noted that the terrorists have also reduced the ransom from N10 million to N5 million but still maintain the condition that the money will be paid in the new naira notes.

Read also

Naira redesign: CBN receives N165 billion old notes, begins circulation of new ones

His words:

“As we were trying to gather the money demanded by the terrorists, they sent another message this morning that they would not collect old naira notes.
“They said they would keep the abducted persons in their camps until the release of the new naira notes in December."

The report also said that the police of the Zamfara state command is yet to comment on the incident.

According to the Punch, calls made to the state Police Public Relations Officer, SP Mohammed Shehu, and the state Commissioner for Information, Ibrahim Dosara, rang out.

It also added that messages sent to their mobile numbers were yet to be responded to as of the time of filing this report.

Insecurity: Police nab 16 notorious kidnappers, bandits, recover arms

The Zamfara state police command successfully arrested 16 notorious bandits terrorising the state capital.

It was gathered that the bandits were responsible for various attacks and kidnappings in the outskirts of Gusau, the state capital.

Read also

New naira notes: Nigerians show off their own designs against CBN’s

The police spokesperson said they were able to capture them after several intelligence updates.

Police arrest ex-convict hours after release from prison in Lagos

In another development, the Lagos state police command disclosed it has arrested an ex-convict, a few hours after his release from prison.

The arrest of the suspect identified simply as Yakub Yusuf and aged 23, was made by the Operatives of Rapid Response Squad on Saturday morning, November 12.

Meanwhile, Yusuf was nabbed once more after illegally coming into the Lagos State Fire Service premises to steal valve covers of old fire trucks under repair.

Source: Legit.ng

Authors:
Nnenna Ibeh avatar

Nnenna Ibeh Nnenna Ibeh is a journalist with over 10 years of experience with various media organisations including Premium Times. Being on the front burner of reporting politics and the different dimensions of governance, she is also passionate about girls' education and women's and children's health. With degrees in Journalism, Peace Studies & Conflict Res., and Dev. Studies, Nnenna has worked in the dev. sector as a communications officer for the Centre for Democracy and Dev. email: ibehnnenna@gmail.com