Family of three kidnapped siblings have called for help as bandits have demanded N50 million ransom for their release.
Meanwhile, the husband of one of the women, who was pregnant at the time of their kidnap and gave birth in captivity, Mohammed Alabi, has appealed to the government, organisations and public spirited individuals to come to their aid as the two children at home were asking for their mother.
"My pregnant wife left my house to her parent's house to cater for her sick mother, only for me to receive a call that she has been kidnapped with her two sisters.
"She gave birth in the kidnappers' camp on Friday, August 2, 2022, mother and child are not feeling fine, they have not received any medical care. The baby used to cry from night till morning inside the forest. We learnt they were being mistreated, flogged.
"Our two children at home used to cry everyday telling me 'daddy go and bring our mother' and I don't know what to tell them. We are all dying emotionally and physically. We are appealing to whoever God will use to secure their release to please help us free them," he said in tears.
The three sisters were kidnapped on July 17, 2022 in Mando, on the outskirts of Kaduna, at their family house where they were attending to their sick mother. Their mother, who could hardly walk unaided before their capture, has now been confined to the wheelchair due to the trauma of her children's abduction.
The eldest of the sisters, who was heavily pregnant when they were kidnapped, gave birth in captivity without recourse to medical or human care for both mother and child, as they were subjected to harsh weather conditions, eating and drinking whatever is available in the bandits' den in the forest.
Recounting the family's ordeal, father of the nursing mother and her sisters, Malam AbdulWahab Yusuf said the bandits broke into their Mando home about 1:05am that fateful day. "My two daughters used to take care of their mother who is sick. That day their elder sister, who is pregnant, came from her husband's house to look after her mother. The bandits broke into the house, I ran out and jumped the back fence but my three daughters were kidnapped and taken to the forest.
"They asked for N140 million, but now they have reduced the ransom to N50 million. The family has been adversely affected by the trauma. My wife, who was able to walk unaided before the incident, now uses a wheelchair. We just carried out a surgery on her. I have not been myself, I cannot sleep, once it is night, I don't know how my body feels."
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Also speaking, the elder brother of the kidnapped sisters, Kabiru Yusuf said, "Since the kidnap, we have been negotiating with them. The bandits initially demanded for N140 million but we pleaded with them that we are poor people, so they reduced it to N100million, we again pleaded with them further and they reduced it to N50 million last week Saturday and threatened that if we don't have the N50 million ready, we should not call them again.
"My sisters cried when they were made to call on Sunday that they were being maltreated, adding that the bandits' commander wanted to leave the camp and may not return until after a while, so we should talk to them. But I told them that we have sold everything we have but what we raised is not tangible and we don't have anything to sell anymore.
"We are appealing to the federal government, Kaduna State government, charity organisations, philanthropists and well spirited individuals to assist us in securing their release. We don't want anything to happen to them, if anything happens to them only God knows what effect it would have on our mother, who is now in a wheelchair because of their abduction," he said.
