In a trending video, Isa Mohammed Bawa, the Sokoto monarch who was kidnapped in July along the Sokoto-Sabon Birni Road of Sokoto State, has said that the government failed to act after he pleaded for an intervention. In the clip seen by FIJ, the abducted monarch sat on the ground with his hands and feet tied, his white garment soiled.....KINDLY READ THE FULL STORY HERE▶
A voice suspected to be one of his abductors told Bawa to relay his message to the public.
“Say your message,” the voice says in Hausa.
Bawa, also speaking in Hausa, says:
“I want to inform my relatives, friends, well-wishers and the government that today, Wednesday, is the deadline. If they really want to help me, they should help me, please.”
“These people are tired of us and have exhausted their options, but the government did not intervene. I pleaded with the government to intervene, but they didn’t.
“I am 74 and have worked for the government for nearly 45 years as a traditional ruler.”
FIJ also saw another video where the abductors were beating a man in blue clothing who sat beside the Sokoto monarch.
Bawa, who was abducted alongside his son and six others, has been in the den of his abductors since July.
FIJ learnt that the abductors requested a ransom of N1 billion to secure the release of the monarch and others who were being held captive.
Bandits using social media to raise ransom for their abductees is becoming commonplace. They either allow their victims to use their phones to call or chat with relatives to solicit help in raising ransom or make videos of them in captivity and post them on social media platforms.
A recent example of this was when Kinglsey Aondonna, one of the 20 medical students kidnapped on their way to Enugu, posted about their abduction on X on Friday evening and chatted with relatives and friends on WhatsApp while in captivity.
Those students were calling for help in donation to the N50 million ransom the criminals had demanded.
