ISWAP Frees Abducted 6 Borno Fishermen After Ransom Payment

Six out of the seven fishermen recently abducted in Doron Baga community of Kukawa local government area of Borno State have reportedly regained freedom after their family members paid ramsom to the terrorists.

After public appeals to the government for intervention, the families began crowdfunding efforts when the terrorists reduced the ransom to N15 million against the N30 million earlier demanded.

Community sources said three of the victims were freed after an initial payment of N2 million raised through local contributions.

“We first raised N1.8 million, but the terrorists’ commander refused to accept the amount. We had to complete it to N2 million before they released three of our people,” a community source said.

Another source disclosed that the commander, identified as Sa’ad, later demanded N4 million for the remaining captives.

“Alhamdulillah, we have secured the release of the remaining victims after the payment of N4 million,” the source added.

In total, N6 million was paid to secure the freedom of the six surviving fishermen.

The military was yet to react to the freedom of the captives.

However, a security source who pleaded anonymity, said security agencies were intensifying operations to dismantle terrorist hideouts in the area.

“We do not encourage the payment of ransom to terrorists because it empowers them to continue attacking communities and abducting more victims,” the source said.

It could be recalled that the victims were among seven fishermen abducted when Boko Haram terrorists attacked Kwatan Dadin Kowa fish market in Doron Baga.

The terrorists initially demanded N30 million ramsom to release the abducted fishermen before scaling it down to N15 million and subsequently collected N6 million after one out of the seven was killed in captivity.