Kidnappers Detain Ekiti Ransom Bearers With N10m, Insist On N100m

Two men, who are family members of the five women kidnapped in Erinmope-Ekiti, Moba local government area of Ekiti State, have also been detained by the abductors with the N10 million ransom they paid to free the women.

The latest abductees, identified as Ibrahim Saliu and Mohammad Saliu, are being held in the kidnappers’ den, making the number of persons kidnapped to rise to seven.

The duo, it was gathered, were reportedly held around Idofin in Ero local government area of Kwara State when they went to pay the sum of  N10 million out of the N100 million ransom demanded by the abductors.

Recall that some gunmen, suspected to be kidnappers, had on Saturday, January 24, 2026, stormed Erinmope-Ekiti, in Moba Local Government area of Ekiti State, seized and whisked five women to an unknown destination.

Those abducted included a nursing mother, an expectant mother and three others.

The abductors had since contacted the family of the abductees and demanded N100 million ransom to secure their release.

In a telephone interview with journalists in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, the family’s head, Alhaji Muhammad Saliu Okanlawon, said the family had pleaded with the bandits to reduce the ransom from N100 million to N10 million.

The five persons earlier abducted, according to him, are Kehinde Mahmud, Adijat Hussein, Hawawu Suleiman, Fatima and another Fatima.

While narrating his ordeal, Alhaji Okanlawon explained that they reached out to the extended family members who made generous donations, adding that they were only able to raise N10 million.

He said, “We took a N10 million ransom to the kidnappers last Friday, February 6, 2026, at a location in Orun Ago in Omu-aran, only to be moved to Idofin in Oke Ero Local Government, all in Kwara.

“Our family has been traumatised by this incident; we have struggled to raise N10 million, with the hope that these kidnappers will show mercy on us by releasing five members of our family who were abducted earlier. But we were thrown into a deeper pain when we received the call that two of my brothers who took the ransom for remittance had been held hostage too. This is pure wickedness; we don’t even know what to do again. They said the money we brought was too little after we had pleaded with them.

“We are appealing to the government to come to our aid. again. We are using this medium to appeal to the government to come to our rescue. We don’t even know what to do again. One of the victims is carrying a nine-month-old pregnancy; you can imagine the kind of trauma she will be going through now. It is indeed a painful experience for the family, “he lamented.