Gunmen kidnap 6 female footballers in Edo, demand N5m ransom each

Six grassroots female footballers were on Friday evening kidnapped by gunmen in Uronigbe, Orhiomwon Local Government Area of Edo State. 

The female footballers were kidnapped at the border town between Edo and Delta State while returning from a football tournament at Owa-Alero in the Ika North-East Local Government Area of Delta State.

A source from the locality, who confirmed the incident, said that the abductors had contacted the families of the victims,  demanding a sum of N5m ransom each for the victims. 

The Delta State Police  Command has confirmed the incident,  while the Edo State Police said they were yet to have the report of the incident. 

 “They (footballers) went to Owa-Alero to play a football match. On their way back, they were kidnapped at the Uronigbe area, the boundary between Delta and Edo states,” the source disclosed.

“The victims include Mrs Precious Agbajor, one Abraham, Nancy, Beatrice, and the driver. They are six in number that are in the kidnapper’s den. The matter has been reported to Uronigbe police station.

“The kidnappers have contacted the family of Agbajor and asked them to pay N5 million for his wife”, the source added.

Speaking on the development,  Delta State Police Command Public Relations Officer,  PPRO,  Bright Edafe, confirmed the kidnapping incident, adding that the incident happened in Edo State.

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But his Edo State counterpart, Chidi Nwabuzor, when contacted, said from the record available at the State Command, that there was no information about the incident. 

“You know, we transmit our records to Force Headquarters everyday. There is no record of that before us. From the Command’s record, no such incident happened yesterday (Friday), so the police will not give an account of anything unreported.

“It is only when an incident is reported that the police can act on it. In most cases, citizens are not aware of the powers to report incidents. So the record I have from the command is that no such incident happened yesterday (Friday), today (Saturday) and even day before yesterday (Thursday),” Nwabuzor emphasised.