Six Federal Road Safety Corps officials recently released from their abductors have said that no security agency rescued them.
According to BBC Hausa Service, each of them paid N6m to the kidnappers before they were freed.
Police spokesperson in Nasarawa State, Ramham Nansel, had earlier said no ransom was paid for their release.
He said, “They were rescued by the security agencies comprising police and soldiers supported by vigilante groups and hunters.”
But the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to BBC Hausa Service, said the police lied.
“What the police are saying is a big lie, there is no element of truth in it, the kidnappers established contact with our relatives, the money was withdrawn in Nasarawa town.
“They instructed that only the driver should come with the money; when the driver brought the money, they kept us aside and counted it to ensure it was complete, but because it was getting dark, they did not finish and asked the driver to go with us while they also proceeded into the bush
shooting in the air,” one of the victims said.
Another victim whose leg was amputated as a result of the gunshot from the incident said, “We paid ransom through our relatives before we were released; some paid N5m, others N6m.”
Ojelabi, the publisher of Freelanews, is an award winning and professionally trained mass communicator, who writes ruthlessly about pop culture, religion, politics and entertainment.
