Last week, on the Ikorodu-Yaba Road, suspected kidnappers abducted Christiana Idowu, a 300-level student at the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Ogun State.
A source from the family, who spoke with PUNCH Metro anonymously on Monday, revealed that the kidnappers demanded a ransom of N3m for the release of the student.
The source mentioned that Christiana was on her way from her home in the Itaoluwo area of Ikorodu to the University of Lagos in Yaba for her industrial training when she was kidnapped.
After she became unreachable, the kidnappers contacted the family via her phone, insisting on a N3m ransom before releasing her.
Despite the family paying N350,000 to a specified account following negotiations, the abductors did not release Christiana.
According to the source, “They are using her WhatsApp to communicate with us, demanding N3m. We pleaded, and the ransom was reduced to N1m, then N500,000, and finally, they settled on N350,000.
“Even after we paid the N350,000, they refused to release her and requested the bank statement of the transferring account before considering her release.
The family has involved the police in the situation as they are unable to handle it alone and appealed to the government and the public for support.
When the Ogun State Deputy Police Public Relations Officer, Folashade Oluwole, was contacted, she mentioned not being informed about the incident but assured to revert. However, she has not responded as of writing this report.
In a related development, on August 22, PUNCH Metro reported that youths in Lagos thwarted a kidnap attempt on a car dealer on Ebute Igbogbo Road, Ikorodu Local Government Area.
The suspects, including Taiwo Olayinka, Azeez Sodiq, and Saheed Moonstruck, were apprehended by the Lagos State Police Command.
A viral video depicted the captured suspects, stripped, bloodied, and confined in a car, being interrogated and attacked by the youths who caught them after the botched kidnapping.
The Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, confirmed the arrests on X.com, stating that the suspects were suspected of theft or kidnapping, with ongoing investigations.