- Victims include Ishaya Kukah, brother of Bishop Mathew Kukah and Adesanya Michael, a Deputy Director at the National Assembly Commission who was abducted from his residence in Kubwa, Abuja
The National Security Adviser (NSA), Malam Nuhu Ribadu, on Tuesday warned family members of kidnapped victims against ransom payment to terrorists, bandits and other kidnappers.
Ribadu said while receiving some rescued victims in his office that the people were rescued based on military operations and not solely because they paid ransom. Among the rescued victims was Mr Ishaya Kukah, brother to the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah and over 60 others.
Stating that payment of ransom is “compounding the problems for us,” the NSA urged victims families to “please, stop” the payments as it is an enabler to more of abductions.
According to him: “Please, stop giving money to these people. It’s one of the worst things that is happening.
“It’s the most difficult thing we are facing. Many of these people, as you see them, their families have given money to these people. But it did not lead to their own release. No. It is we, the security forces, that have got them out.
“It’s not the money that they are giving. These people, the more you give, the more you are compounding the problems for us. We have never given anybody a dime. We don’t. And we don’t want people to do so. Please, stop it.
“Inadvertently, we may be helping this thing. And we are saying enough is enough. We will not be able to stop this thing quickly if people continue to give them money. I want to make a very strong appeal to all.
“It’s understandable, when someone of yours is in captivity, you will do whatever it takes for you to get him back. But this is counterproductive. It’s actually encouraging for it to continue.
“The whole essence is to get money, and if you continue to give them, you are actually saying go and do more and more. We are appealing to our people, to the country, to everybody, that please, let’s stop giving this money. Give us a chance for us to do the work. We will get it done”
Ribadu also said: “I want to once again use the opportunity to thank our armed forces, thank our security forces, all the services. And indeed, the leadership of President Bola Tinubu, who is working daily, and we are improving.
“Daily, we are doing what we are asked to do. Daily, we are serving our country. Daily, we are restoring order, security, and stability. Daily, we are getting freedom back to our own people. We will continue to do so. We will not relent.
“We will not stop. I’m grateful today we are joined with the Minister of Defence who has been exceptional. He has given massively good leadership to the armed forces.
“We are seeing the result. The collective collaboration, all of us, is really the result that we are seeing daily. We will continue.
“We will go after these people. Those bad people who are responsible for these horrible, horrible criminal activities. Releasing them is not the end of the story.
“We will make sure that justice is done. Anybody who is involved will never see peace with those who have decided to work with them (criminals). We are going to continue.”
Also speaking, the Minister of Defence, Mohammed Badaru Abubakar, said the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration would see the end of the criminals and insecurity in Nigeria.
He said, “By special grace of God, the coordination of the National Security Adviser and the services, I’m sure we will see end to insecurity in this country. Once again, we thank also Nigerians for building the trust they have in us.
“And the fact that in recent times we have seen the trust, the information they give now to us to face these challenges. So, I continue to urge the citizens to continue to give us vital information that will lead to operations like this so that we’ll continue to fight the bad people to the end.“
Ishaya Kukah, who also spoke at the ceremony, said he had given up hope of surviving before his rescue with others by troops of 1 Division Nigerian Army in Kaduna.
“Frankly speaking, I had already given up. I didn’t think I would come out alive because of how they were treating us in the bush. We suffered too much. They used to chain us in twos. If you wanted to defecate or urinate, you had to move together,” he said.
Kukah said that the kidnapped victims were pressured into agreeing to ransom demands due to the torture they endured.
According to him, if they noticed you are reluctant, they will beat or even kill you.
“If not for the Federal Government, we would still be in the bush. Thank you for what you have done. God bless you,” he said.
Besides Kukah, another kidnapped victim who was also rescued, Adesanya Michael, a Deputy Director at the National Assembly Commission, who was abducted from his residence in Kubwa, Abuja, advocated for a non-combative approach to tackling banditry.
He said the bandits, mostly aged between 17 and 21, were stark illiterates and victims of circumstance.
“I was chained for 32 days. Most of them can’t even count up to a million. They don’t know what they’re doing.
“Instead of killing them, the government should arrest, educate, and rehabilitate them. Some of them want to learn trades. They can still be useful,” he said.
Michael, who was kidnapped on January 26 and released on April 7, recounted how his wife was killed in his presence.
“When they kill someone in front of you, you will give them anything they want. They killed my wife before me. In that moment, if they asked for my head, I would have given it.”
