Helpless! Borno families sell houses to pay ransom

Relatives of some of the 52 kidnapped residents of Borno State have resorted to selling their houses in anticipation of ransom demands by the kidnappers.

The victims were kidnapped by gunmen from different parts of the state on April 15.

The spokesperson for the families of the victims, Hassan Yati, told Saturday PUNCH that one of the relatives whose two sons were kidnapped had been defrauded of N1.5m out of the N3m demanded by individuals posing as the abductors.

He said the family later discovered that the actual terrorists had neither demanded the money nor authorised anyone to collect ransom on their behalf.

Yati added that the incident had compounded the financial burden on families already struggling to cater to their children.

He also revealed that a woman whose only daughter was kidnapped had sold her family house in the Biu Local Government Area of the state.

“Initially, we thought it was money the kidnappers wanted. One of the parents with only daughter kidnapped told me she sold her family house in Biu in anticipation, only to hear otherwise.

“Even me, I put our family house up for sale, but no one is talking to us again,” he stated.

Yati said he decided to sell his family house because his younger brother and his wife were among those abducted on April 15.

He explained that he had been under pressure from other relatives of the victims, who accused him of withholding information about efforts to secure the release of their loved ones.

“The rest of the parents bombard me with calls and messages. They now accuse me of hiding information,” he said.

Yati said efforts to get the attention of the government had so far yielded no result, leaving the families to endure what he described as prolonged silence from the authorities.

A parent who sold her house, Monday Bako, expressed frustration, saying her daughter was kidnapped on January 13.

Bako, a food vendor, said, “They kidnapped my daughter since 13th of January till today. I have no idea of where they are and who held her captive. We have not heard anything about her and others abducted in our community.

“I later sold my house to raise money in case we hear any information. We thought they would demand ransom but unfortunately, nothing has been demanded.”

Another relative, whose wife and three-month-old baby are in the terrorists’ den, appealed to the government to expedite action towards their release.

“We are tired of waiting. We are dying in silence. Our appeal to the government is for them to come to our aid,” the source said.