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KonkNaija Media | May 8, 2016

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Kidnappers Demand N500m Ransom To Free Goodluck Jonathan’s Uncle

Kidnappers Demand N500m Ransom To Free Goodluck Jonathan’s Uncle

| On 28, Feb 2014

Inengite Nitabai

 

Abductors of Inengite Nitabai, the 70-year old uncle of President Goodluck Jonathan, have demanded a N500m ransom.

A security source said that the abductors threatened to kill him if the family fails to produce the money.

The source also said the family had constituted a committee to evaluate the demand, establish negotiations with the abductors and facilitate his release.

He said the kidnappers had also warned against the involvement of security operatives in the matter.

“The kidnappers contacted the family four days after and demanded a whopping sum of N500m. It is believed that the family of the victim has begun negotiations with the hoodlums,” he said.

Tension and panic set in when the kidnappers failed to establish any contact with the family of their victim three days after he was abducted.

That development was said to have rattled the Presidency, which reportedly ordered a massive deployment of security in Otuoke, the hometown of the Jonathans, and the Niger Delta creeks.

The gunmen abducted Nitabai on Sunday after collecting about N400,000 from his wife.

It would be recalled that on October 14 last year, Augusta Douglas Ayam, the sister of Mr. Oronto Douglas, the Special Advisor to President Jonathan on Research and Strategy, was also kidnapped in the same area.

She was released after nine days, and the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta MEND, claiming to have made accidental contact with the kidnappers, confirmed that the Jonathan government paid $200,000 US as ransom for her release.

The movement said the kidnappers wanted to use the incident to make a political statement, as they were disgusted at the ostentation they had witnessed during the burial of Oronto’s father in December last year. That event featured the widespread use of government equipment, including free use of military helicopters to shuttle guests and merchandise.

It was on one of those trips that Kaduna State Governor, Patrick Yakowa, and former National Security Adviser Andrew Owoye Azazi died in a crash.

[Sahara Reporters]

Meanwhile in another news::::::::::::

Jonathan’s cousin abduction: Kidnappers demand N500m ransom

The kidnappers of Chief Inengite Nitabai, cousin to President Goodluck Jonathan, have demanded the sum of N500m ransom to set him free.

Nitabai, aged 70, was abducted last Sunday by ten armed men at his Otuoke residence in Ogbia local government area of Bayelsa State and taken away in his private Sports Utitlity Vehicle after collecting N400,000 from his wife.

The vehicle was later recovered at Unuegbum  waterfront where it was abandoned, an indication that the gunmen escaped through the creek.

The victim, his wife, his wife’s sister and three of his children were in the house when the gunmen struck.

But that respite it was learnt came the way of the family when the kidnappers contacted them to make the ransom demand Thursday.

It was learnt that the outrageous demand unsettled the family members who had since resorted to prayers for divine intervention.
Though his children had declined media enquiries on the matter so as not to jeopardize police efforts,  a security source told Saturday Vanguard that the abductors threatened to kill their victim if the family failed to accede to their demand..

The security source who spoke anonymously  said the family had constituted a committee to evaluate the demand, establish negotiations with the abductors and facilitate his release.
The kidnappers, according to the source, as usual warned against the involvement of security operatives in the matter.

“The kidnappers contacted the family four days after and demanded a whooping sum of N500m. It is believed that the family of the victim has begun negotiations with the hoodlums,” he said.

The troubled family members had shortly after the incident chose to maintained silence on media enquiry on the matter for security reason in spite  of growing anxiety following the refusal of the kidnappers to establish contact with them.

The state police spokesman, Mr. Alex Akhigbe could not be reached for comment but there had been massive security presence in the community with operatives combing the creeks and waterways of the state in search of the kidnappers.

Vanguard