The family of Esther Katung, who
was abducted on September 14, have lamented how kidnappers took a ransom of
N250,000 after killing her.
The deceased, whose husband is
the pastor of the ECWA church in the village, was abducted in Bagoma, Birnin
Gwari local government area of Kaduna state, when bandits broke into their home
about 11:30pm.
Ishaku Katung, her husband, was
said to have escaped with serious injuries when the kidnappers attacked them.
A family source said the deceased
and two other victims escaped from captivity but the deceased was not lucky as
she was caught by the kidnappers who broke her leg and smashed her head,
leading to her death.
The bandits were said to have
dumped her corpse in the bush. Her body was discovered days after the family
went to pay the ransom.
The source said having killed
her, the kidnappers gave the impression that she was alive and insisted on the
payment of ransom for her release.
The kidnappers were said to have
demanded N5 million as ransom, but after a series of negotiations and pleading,
they agreed to take N250,000 for her release.
The source explained that the
people who went to deliver the ransom had to run for their lives as the bandits
burnt their motorcycles after collecting the money.
Confirming the incident, Joseph
Hayab, chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN)in the state, said
human life “no longer means anything in the country”.
He said the rate of kidnappings
in the state is “very scary”, noting that people are living under perpetual
fear of the unknown.
“What really happened is that she
wanted to escape with two others. They killed her and dumped her corpse in the
bush,” Hayab said.
“After they killed her, they were
still demanding for the ransom without telling us that they had killed her and
the ransom was delivered to them.
“They burnt the motorcycle of
those who went to deliver the ransom and collected their mobile phones”.
Efforts to reach Yakubu Sabo,
spokesman of the Kaduna state police command, for reaction were unsuccessful as
his mobile phone was switched off as of the time of filing this report.
In August, Jeremiah Omolewa,
resident pastor of the Living Faith Church in Romi New Extension, a suburb in
the state, was killed while his wife was abducted.
The incident happened along
Kaduna-Abuja road. While his son escaped, the gunmen took his widow into the
forest and later contacted the family of the victim to demand a ransom of N50
million.
She was released after ransom was
paid.
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