March 12, (THEWILL)- In a stunning demand, bandits who abducted 16 residents in the Gonin Gora area of Kaduna State are asking for a staggering N40 trillion as ransom to secure freedom for the victims.
Besides the huge monetary demand, THEWILL reports that the bandits also asked for 11 Hilux vans and 150 motorcycles in exchange for the 16 persons they are holding captive.
This development was confirmed to newsmen by a community leader, John Yusuf, who said the bandits got in touch with the victims’ families and asked for the items.
“The bandits have contacted us. They are demanding N40 trillion, 11 Hilux vans and 150 motorcycles for the release of 16 people they are holding captive.
“Where are we going to get this kind of money? Even if we sell the entire community, we cannot raise N40 trillion. Even Nigeria as a country has never made a budget of N40 trillion,” Yusuf told Silverbird TV.
The community leader narrated that the bandits invaded the community two times within a week.
According to him, “During the first attack, three people were kidnapped while in the second attack, 13 people were abducted, bringing the total number of people being held captive to 16.”
He lamented the vast bushes bordering the community and Birnin Gwari Local Government Area of the state and appealed for the establishment of a military base to check the activities of the criminals.
“We are pleading with the government to come to our aid by establishing a military base behind our community where the bandits take advantage of the bushes to invade our community.
“From our community down to Birnin Gwari, which is over 150 kilometres, is a stretch of bush. We also have another stretch of bushes from Gonin Gora down to Niger State.
“So, the criminals have free access through the bushes to our community. We are pleading with the government to help us,” he added.
Yusuf acknowledged the Nigerian Army’s efforts in combating the bandit menace but stressed that the security forces are overstretched in vast communities.
“The army is really trying, despite the fact that they are seriously overstretched. Whenever we make distressed calls they come. But the problem is that before they reach the community, the bandits would have done what they wanted and left,” Yusuf said while appealing to the federal and state governments to take proactive action to prevent the menace from consuming “all of us”.
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