A 45-year-old cattle owner was kidnapped in Bimbilla, Nanumba North municipality, Northern Region, and was released after a ransom of GHS100,000 was paid to the alleged kidnappers.
Afa Jamel, the victim, was allegedly kidnapped on Thursday evening.
According to reports, this is the third time in less than a year that such a case has been reported in the area, with all of the victims being nomads.
Jamel, a Bimbilla resident, has six children and is married to two wives.
He claims he was enticed by a woman who approached him in Bimbilla.
According to the victim, the kidnappers took him to Nkwanta in the Oti Region, where they instructed him to call his family and inform them that he had been kidnapped.
Jamel went on to say that he was tortured before being freed after his family paid the ransom.
“I was severely tortured, and I begged my family to do everything possible to raise the funds to save me. They drove me to the Nkwanta neighborhood, where they live. Fulanis, they are my own people.”
To raise the money for the ransom, his cattle were sold.
“I don’t have any cattle left now; everything was sold to raise the required funds. Because the cattle money was insufficient, I still owe some money,” Jamel explained.
Alhaji Fusheini Kunkuna, a butcher and a friend of the victim, also spoke about the struggle they had to raise the ransom.
“When he was kidnapped, they summoned the Fulani chief and asked him to assist me and Issahaku Damba in quickly mobilizing the funds. The kidnappers told us that unless we brought GHS100,000, he would not be released. We told them we couldn’t afford GHS 100,000, so we could only give them 40,000.”
“They disagreed, claiming that even one pesewa would not be enough to save him from the tens of thousands of others who would be killed. We informed them that we lacked the necessary funds. We were still talking about it when the victim told us that if we didn’t pay the money, they’d kill him.”
Jamel warned his friends that if they waited any longer, he would die.
“We contacted over ten people in town, and everyone we spoke to said they couldn’t afford even GHS100. Things were difficult. They stopped torturing him after we told them we had received the GHS100,000,” Alhaji Fusheini said.
“They then told us that they would lead us in the right direction. Whenever they called, they would turn off the phone after the call unless they were looking for us, in which case they would call.”
“They told us to give the money to two Fulani men in town, and they would take it to Damanko. They were also told to travel to Nkwanta by Damanko. People are in the Nkwanta area of the Oti Region, on the Togo lane.”
They couldn’t report to the police because the kidnappers were watching their every move, according to Alhaji Fusheini.
“We went to the police on our own, but the Fulani family didn’t want us to because it felt like the kidnappers were watching us and knowing everything we did. It’s as if some of the kidnappers are with us, and everything we do alerts the kidnappers to our whereabouts.”
Abdulai Yaqoub, the acting Municipal Chief Executive for Bimbila, assured that measures are being taken to address the insecurity.
“As part of the measures we are taking, we will hold a joint MUSEC and DISEC meeting on Thursday to discuss the issue before it gets out of hand, because this is becoming rampant in the municipality.”
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SOURCE: ATLFMNEWSONLINE
