Abductors free Kaduna judge, demand N150m to release her children

Janet Galadima-Gimba, a customary court judge in Kaduna, who was abducted by bandits, has been released.

The judge and her sons were reportedly abducted at their residence in the Mahuta area of Kaduna on June 23.

The abductors, numbering up to 15, invaded the home of the judge at night when her husband, a medical doctor, was away on duty.

The bandits were said to have demanded N300 million ransom for their release and had threatened to start killing their victims one after the other if payment was delayed.

One of the children, a 14-year-old boy, was, however, killed on Tuesday by the bandits when the N298 ransom demanded could not be delivered at the stipulated time.

However, in a telephone interview on Thursday evening, the judge said she was released by her abductors.

She added that they demanded N150 million for the release of her three children.

“Initially, they demanded N298 million, but they have reduced it to N150 million, and they released me to go and bring the money before my children are released,” she said.

She said the bandits threatened to kill her children in less than three days if she failed to deliver the ransom to them.