Canadian study exchange student Mrs. Julie Anne Mulligan, who was abducted in Kaduna on April 16, regained her freedom on Wednesday night after an operation carried out by agents of the State Security Service (SSS) succeeded in capturing one of her abductors. The operation took place around the Peugeot Junction in Kaduna city outskirts.

Mrs. Mulligan, 45, came to Kaduna with four others on a group study exchange programme under the auspices of the Rotary Club. The team had earlier been to Kano and Katsina states before arriving in Kaduna. They were to proceed to Jos when she was kidnapped at Narayi High Cost area.

Daily Trust learnt that in the two weeks that Mulligan was held, an undercover SSS agent pretended to be negotiating with the kidnappers who at first wanted a N100 million ransom. They later scaled down their demand to N5 million, a source said. The agent who pretended to be a Roman Catholic nun, pleaded with the abductors to accept the amount. At the same time, security agents monitored all the phone conversations and text messages between her and the abductors.

The sources said, "From their discussions, the SSS found out that the kidnappers were holed up at Gonin Gora, a settlement on the outskirts of Kaduna, which is along Abuja road." An intense security vigil was then mounted in the area.

When the kidnappers finally agreed to accept the N5 million ransom, they asked the negotiator to meet them at the Peugeot Junction. For easy identification, they asked her to put on a white t-shirt, black trousers and black shoes. When the kidnappers approached, they told her on phone to drive up the road and they later asked her to reverse as well, which she did. Satisfied that it was their woman, one of the kidnappers, later identified as Christian Tochukwu Ogwuzor, hurriedly crossed the road and approached the undercover agent for the money. She then alighted from her car and went to open the car's boot. At that point, the SSS men who had earlier swarmed the area, fired sporadic shots into the air and Mr. Ogwuzor froze in his tracks.

Firing of the shots however alerted the driver of the getaway Honda Civic car, who zoomed off and left his accomplice, Ogwuzor, standing at the scene. The SSS men grabbed the ransom taker, who then led them to the kidnappers' hide-out at Gonin Gora.

However, before they could reach the hide out, the runaway kidnapper got there before them and whisked away the other gang members. When the gangsters fled, they left Mrs. Mulligan behind, and she wandered out of the house and ran around the area until vigilante men spotted her and took her to a nearby police station. Meanwhile, the escaped kidnappers abandoned their get-away car at Jere, a town along the Abuja road.

Mrs. Mulligan, who looked healthy but tense yesterday, has already identified Ogwuzor as one of her alleged abductors. She was all smiles as she came out of the SSS headquarters in Kaduna, but made no comments when reporters asked her questions. A Canadian embassy official later said that all enquiries should be directed to a certain telephone number.

The Kaduna State government expressed happiness that Mrs. Mulligan has regained her freedom. Alhaji Saidu Adamu, the Commissioner for Information, said that such occurrences do happen even in advanced countries. He praised the efforts of the police and SSS for foiling the kidnap plot within two weeks.