Tony Osauzo, Benin
A final year student of Nursing Department, Ambrose Alli University (AAU), Ekpoma, Edo State, Miss Ojemire Faith Bisi, who was reportedly kidnapped at her school gate by gunmen on December 8, is still in captivity 21 days after.
A few hours following her kidnapping, her abductors are reported to have used her mobile phone to call her father, Mr Thomas Ojemire, a taxi driver, demanding a ransom of N3 million.
The kidnappers, who were said to have given an account where the ransom money would be paid into, later reduced the ransom to N1 million after a lengthy negotiation.
It was learnt that the sum of N51,000 was initially paid into the bank account provided by the kidnappers. As at Sunday, December 29, a total of N500,000 had been paid into the account, with the abductors demanding more.
The distraught father of the victim said the matter was reported to the police on December 9, with an official letter addressed to the Commissioner of Police, adding that a similar letter was also written to the State Director of the Department of State Service (DSS).
Ojemire, who expressed shock that the two security agencies had not done anything to help free his daughter, said: “If they are doing anything about it, why have they not been able to trace their calls?
“They (kidnappers) call us every day; sometimes even two to three times a day, using the same phone number, and we have been paying money into the bank account they gave to us.
“Why will they abandon us? Is it because we are poor? I have borrowed and sold some of my property to raise the N500,000 that I have paid into their account.
“Also, why is the authority of Ambrose Alli University silent over the matter? Why have they not said or done anything about it?
“I am using this medium to appeal to all men of goodwill to intervene in this matter and free my innocent daughter from those holding her. Since December 9, 2019, I have not seen or heard the voice of my daughter,” Ojemire lamented.
Spokesman of the Edo State Police Command DSP Chidi Nwabuzor confirmed the incident, saying that the family initially reported a missing person case, before reporting it to a case of kidnapping.
He said an investigation was ongoing into the matter and urged members of the public to provide credible information that would lead to the rescue of the girl.