Kidnapped UNIZIK student regains freedom
The abducted student of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State, Francisca Chioma, has regained freedom five days after her disappearance.
The institution’s Chief Security Officer, Ken Chukwurah, confirmed her release to our correspondent on the telephone on Thursday, adding that she was set free after the payment of an undisclosed amount of money to her abductors on Wednesday.
Chioma, a student of the Science Education Department at UNIZIK, was reportedly kidnapped on Friday.
She was said to be on her way to a burial ceremony around the Omasi community in Ayamelum Local Government Area of the state when she was abducted.
The kidnappers were said to have demanded N10 million ransom which was later re-negotiated down to N2 million.
Chukwurah, who confirmed the release, said Chioma was kidnapped along with her friend at the Omasiunu area of the state.
He said, “Yes, she has been released. The debriefing we got from her was that she and her friend were not their target. They were just unfortunate to be around the area when the kidnapping operation was going on and they fell into their hands.
“The kidnappers were targeting to abduct one academic doctor and a member of the same family they were going to pay a condolence visit to. They heard that the man was coming in a public transport and they laid ambush.
“She confirmed that the kidnappers later abducted the academic doctor, who was their target and from their interactions, the assailants came from outside the state. She said the kidnappers made them trek a long distance in the bush and crossed them to Nsukka in Enugu State.
“When the incident was happening, we were interacting with security agencies because we initially thought it was not true, but the security agencies sent us a coordinate where they tracked them to somewhere in Enugu State.
“From the interactions with her, she said the family members and friends raised some amount of money and eventually the money was paid to the kidnappers, but we do not have the details of the actual amount that was paid.
“They said the man who was their target was eventually asked to pay N20 million, but negotiations were still going on between the man and the kidnappers before they were eventually released.”
