After killing the woman’s eldest son, suspected bandits in Kaduna State abducted a female judge and her four children. Now, they are requesting N300 million.
On June 23, the judge and her sons were allegedly kidnapped from their home in Kaduna’s Mahuta neighborhood.
Up to fifteen kidnappers broke into the judge’s home at night while her husband, Dr. Musa Gimba Dutse, was away on assignment.
In a statement released on Wednesday, Gloria Ballason, the Chief Executive Officer of the House of Justice and a human rights attorney, acknowledged that the kidnappers had threatened to kill her other boys if the ransom was not paid on time.
Ballason claimed that when the judge’s 14-year-old son’s family was unable to provide the requested ransom, the kidnappers killed him.
She said that on July 2, the boy—who was identified as the judge’s first son, Victor Gimba—was shot and killed.
The kidnappers, who were reportedly no older than fifteen, held their victims captive and sought an enormous ransom.
“When the demanded ransom could not be obtained, the terrorists shot and killed Victor Gimba, the judge’s first child, on Tuesday, July 2, 2024,” the statement read.
The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), the government, and security services were urged to act immediately to ensure the judge and her children are rescued. She also demanded the protection of the judge and her family.
The Nigeria Medical Association’s state chapter has also released a statement denouncing the occurrence and pleading with the security services to step up to the plate.
Dr. Shuaibu Joga, the public relations officer for NMA, expressed outrage that the first son was slain in order to compel payment of the stated amount.
In order to encourage the authorities to move more quickly to secure their immediate release as well as the release of their other doctors who were abducted six months ago, he said the NMA will be asking for an emergency SEC meeting on Thursday as well as a press conference.
“We spoke with the husband after the incident, and he told us that the kidnappers had demanded N300 million in exchange for their freedom.
“We learned with shock today that the first son was slain in order to compel payment of the stated amount, even though the security agencies had been notified and discussions with the kidnappers were still proceeding.
As a result, we are demanding an urgent SEC meeting today as well as a press conference to compel the government to move quickly to secure their immediate release as well as the release of our other doctor, who was abducted six months ago.
He said, “We ask everyone to remain safe and call for calm from members as we engage the necessary security organs to put an end to this needless, wanton evil.”
Neither the state police command nor the state administration had released an official comment at the time this article was filed.