Man claims 13 children kidnapped along Abuja-Kaduna Expressway
An unconfirmed report claims that armed criminals have kidnapped 13 children along the notorious Abuja-Kaduna Expressway. According to X user Hidima PhD, using the handle @Realoilsheikh, the children were returning from Warri, in Delta State after a holiday visit to their grandmother.
He wrote: “The grandchildren of Mama, 13 of them visited her in Warri for holidays. They had a full house and everyone enjoyed the season.
“On Saturday, 6th January 2024, they left Warri by train via the Ujevwu–Itakpe route and arrived at 2:00PM, then they headed to Kaduna by road. The 14 of them were kidnapped along Abuja-Kaduna road.
“The uncle that took them was hit on the head by one of the animals & died. Now the 13 innocent children are with the kidnappers.”
The poster claims that the kidnappers are demanding ₦200 Million in ransom before releasing their captives.
In its own report, Daily Trust said that about 30 persons had been kidnapped on the road. Stating how his friends escaped the kidnappers by a whisker, Shehu Sani, a former senator from Kaduna, said that the kidnappers blocked the road before carrying out the mass abduction of persons.
He said, “Just when we felt safer, last night (Sunday) kidnappers returned to the Kaduna-Abuja Road. They blocked the road and abducted scores of persons around 9pm near Katari village. Two of my honourable friends from both the ruling and opposition parties had to run through the bush like Usain Bolt. But despite this incident, there is a stronger security presence along the route than it used to be in the past.”
The resurgence of criminals on the highway comes in the wake of President Bola Tinubu’s praises successes he said the military had recorded in the fight against insecurity.
The President said, “The success you are recording is undeniable. Nigerians are seeing it.”
The kidnapping incident and similar violent crimes taking place in different parts of the country tends to be at variance with the President’s latest security assessment.
