Gunmen kidnap prospective corps member in Zamfara, demand N2m ransom

Iorliam Jennifer, a a graduate of the Benue State University, has been abducted on her way to the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) camp in Kebbi state.

TheCable understands that Jennifer, an English graduate, was abducted on Tuesday alongside some other passengers along the Zamfara highway at Tsafe LGA.

The prospective corps member had boarded a bus heading to Kebbi state for the compulsory three-week NYSC orientation.

Speaking with TheCable on Friday, Benson Judith, Jennifer’s sister, said the gunmen have contacted the victim’s mother via telephone to demand N2 million each as ransom for Jennifer and other passengers who were kidnapped.

“The bandits have contacted us. They said each of them should pay N2 million each as ransom. There are like six of them — corps members are two, there is also a student among the victims. Other passengers escaped,” she said.

“It was on Tuesday that she left here. We knew that she was kidnapped the next day. She left home for Kebbi state; she was posted there for service.

“She left home on Tuesday because they travel here only on Tuesdays and Thursdays. It is only on those days that vehicles from Benue go that way.”

Asked how they got the information on the kidnap, Judith said someone who picked the sister’s phone from the area where the abduction took place informed the family of the development.

“When I called my sister’s phone number on Wednesday, one guy answered the call. Fortunately, my sister left the phone in the car. They (referring to the gunmen) did not take her phone,” she said.

“It was through the phone that we were able to know that she had been kidnapped. Since that day, her phone has been switched off.”

Confirming the abduction, Mohammed Shehu, Zamfara police spokesperson, in a statement on Friday, said the command received a report from the state NYSC that two prospective corps members deployed to the state have been kidnapped.

Shehu added that the command has commenced investigation to establish the actual number of corps members abducted, while a search exercise for the victims is ongoing.