Abductors of Inengite Nitabai, the septuagenarian cousin of President
Goodluck Jonathan, have requested N500m ransom from the family to set the
victim free.
The outrageous demand, it was learnt, had unsettled members of Nitabai’s
family who were said to be confused on the next line of action.
A top security source told our correspondent that the abductors
threatened to kill Nitabai (Jonathan’s adopted father) if the family failed to
produce the money soon.
The source, who craved anonymity, said the family had constituted a
committee to evaluate the demand, establish negotiations with the abductors and
facilitate his release.
He said the kidnappers as usual warned against the involvement of
security operatives in the whole issue.
“The kidnappers contacted the family four days after and demanded the
sum of N500m. It is believed that the family of the victim has begun
negotiations with the hoodlums,” the source stated.
Angry family members and sympathisers had shortly after the incident
weighed the motives behind the dastardly act.
The atmosphere became gloomier following the refusal of the assailants
to establish contact with the Nitabais three days after the septuagenarian was
whisked away.
The incommunicado of the abductorss, it was learnt, caused panic and
heightened apprehension among members of the family.
The development allegedly rattled the Presidency which ordered massive
deployment of security in Otuoke and the Niger Delta creeks.
The gunmen forcibly seized Nitabai on Sunday after collecting about
N400,000 from his wife, Owiya.
Confusion and panic reigned supreme in the compound of Nitabai when the
abductors gained access to the area between 8pm and 9pm on Sunday. The victim,
his wife, his wife’s sister and three of his children were in the house when
the assailants stormed the compound.
Nitabai was whisked away in his Sports Utility Vehicle, which was later
recovered at Onuebum waterside, fueling speculations that the victim was taken
away through the creeks.
But it was learnt that respite came the way of the family when the
kidnappers contacted them to make the ransom demand on Friday