Three out of the ten people kidnapped in an estate in Sagwari Layout, Dutse, Abuja, on January 7 have been reportedly killed by their abductors, media reports said. 

A 13-year-old high school student, identified as Folorunsho Ariyo, was reportedly among those killed.

It was also gathered that the kidnappers also increased their demand of N60 million per person to N100 million, making it a total of N700 million.

Residents of the estate said the victims were allegedly killed over the delay in raising the ransom money. 

When contacted, the FCT police spokesperson, Josephine Adeh, told Peoples Gazette over the telephone that she could not give details about the incident.

“For security reasons, I can’t speak on this, but we are on top of the situation,” Ms Adeh said. “Members of the public should remain calm.”

The gun-wielding men had stormed the estate at about 7:30 p.m. on the said date to kidnap residents.

Plans to crowdfund the ransom demanded were a topic in Nigeria’s social media space, with many harping on the optics of crowdfunding the money and the precedent it could set for future cases. 

Many Nigerians online have called out the government and the security agencies over their perceived inaction in the face of growing kidnap cases. 

Residents of Sagwari layout have perfected plans to carry out a massive protest to register their discontent with the government and security agencies over the kidnap of their neighbours. 

The protest scheduled for Monday was shifted to Tuesday due to the Armed Forces Remembrance Day.