₦300m ransom demand by bandits hots up with the shooting of Kaduna judge’s first son
Initially, at the onset of the abduction, the bandits were asking for ₦300million in ransom payment, but now they have reduced the demand to half the amount.
Banditry in northwestern Nigeria has only grown worse with this latest demand by a clique of terrorists asking for up to N300 million from a female judge of the Kaduna State Upper Customary Court before they can let go of her three remaining offspring who were abducted 10 days ago and are currently still being held.
While her medical doctor husband was away from their Chikun local government residence on Monday, 24 June, Judge Janet Gimba was taken by bandits alongside four children. Victor Galadima, 14, who is the first child of the family was reportedly killed by the abductors possibly to drive home urgency in their demand.
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Police officers stationed at the Sabon Tasha Division in the Dutse village are believed to have discovered the corpse along the Kaduna-Abuja Highway on Tuesday and ever since then, there has been a focus on security operatives to speed things up as family members and loved ones await an imminent rescue.
Although Judge Gimba following today’s confirmation by her husband has her freedom, she is unlikely to be consoled being that the three children she has left are still in the hands of bandits. Moreover, the shooting of her faultless first offspring will be hard to get over so soon.
How a human rights activist and the chief executive officer of the House of Justice, Gloria Ballason describes the situation is one which contravenes Article 7 of the United Nations Basic Principles on the Independence of the Judiciary, which makes a demand on governments to ensure, in this instance, that judges are protected.
It is the duty of each Member State to provide adequate resources to enable the judiciary to properly perform its functions, reads part of a universal instrument adopted in Milan, Italy by the United Nations General Assembly in early autumn of 1985.
Initially, at the onset of the abduction, the bandits were asking for ₦300million in ransom payment, but now they have reduced the demand to half the amount. If the money does now get to the terrorists by Sunday evening at the most, the children’s father, Mr Musa Gimba confirmed that they are likely to be killed.
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Watching from this prism provides a very slim chance of their recovery if security operatives do not put on their magic cape to arrest the situation. The reason for this is that the parents, being government workers are believed to be lacking in the financial strength that ensures the timely emancipation of their children being forcefully held.
Ayodelé is a Lagos-based journalist and the Content and Editorial Coordinator at Meiza. All around the megacity, I am steering diverse lifestyle magazine audiences with ingenious hacks and insights that spur fast, informed decisions in their busy lives.
