Gunmen abduct Babcock fresh graduate, demand N10m ransom

JUSTINA Anochie, one of the newly-graduated students of Babcock University, Ogun State, has been abducted.

Anochie was said to have completed her nursing course in May and graduated from the school in June.

She was said to have returned to her resident off the school campus at Ilisan, Ogun State, where she was kidnapped on Sunday around 9.00 p.m.

It was learnt that no one knew when the abduction took place until she was declared missing due to the noise of the generator.

The case was reported at the Ikenne Police Division and was later transferred to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad.

Lagos Metro was told that the kidnappers, who had made contact with the family, demanded the payment of N10 million as ransom, which was later reduced to N5 million.

Judith Nze, the victim’s sister, said all effort made by the family to persuade the kidnappers to collect N300,000 had been abortive.

She added that the kidnappers were threatening to kill her sibling if the matter was not withdrawn from the police.

“She is done with her graduate studies in the school and was only waiting for some clearance.

“I learnt that she resides in an isolated area. She was kidnapped on Sunday and since then our mind had not been at peace.

“We actually thought it was a joke until the kidnappers contacted us and demanded N10 million ransom. Although they later reduced it to N5 million. They rejected the N300,000 we offered them and threatened to kill her.

“They also said we must withdraw the case from the police as a condition for her release. My mother spoke with her this morning (Thursday) and she was not sounding good at all. We pray they don’t harm her,” she said.

A police source, however, said investigations had shown that the victim was kidnapped based on information from an insider.

The source explained that a female undergraduate student of a school in Lagos had been linked with the abduction.

“It was an organised crime and based on preliminary investigations, it appeared it was a conspiracy by her colleagues. It was a set up. The kidnapper thought they could make money from her parents, believing she is from a wealthy home. A female student of a school in Lagos has already been arrested,” the source said.

The Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi, confirmed the incident, adding that a suspect had already been arrested.

“The incident happened on Sunday. We have started investigating the case immediately we heard about it. A suspect had been arrested and investigations are ongoing,” he said.