Abducted residents linked to Tyomu community in Makurdi, Benue State, have regained their freedom after N8 million in ransom and food items worth more than N500,000 were supplied to their captors, a relative has said.
Simon Igidi, whose wife was among those kidnapped, said the group released on Thursday night arrived in Makurdi around midnight and was taken to hospitals for medical attention. They were freed in a forest along the Otukpo-Ogbadibo road near the Kogi State border after spending days in captivity.
The reports put the total number of freed abductees at at least 20. Igidi said an elderly woman had been released earlier, on the Friday the group was abducted, and returned home on Monday evening. The remaining 19 were freed after the ransom and provisions were delivered, he said.
He identified those affected as eight women from Tyomu, three people from Vandeikya and nine from the Wurukum area of Makurdi.
Police spokesperson DSP Peter Aondongu said the Benue command had not received a report of the incident.
PureBioTech Nigeria Limited donated N1 million to support the rehabilitation and welfare of the Tyomu victims. Alhaji Abdulkadir Mohammed presented the donation to community representatives at the company’s premises on Thursday.
Makurdi Local Government Chairman Joseph Keffi also reportedly visited Tyomu and donated N1.5 million to assist the affected residents.
Sources: Daily Trust, Daily Post
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