Bandits Threaten To Marry Abducted Bride, Sell Off 62 Wedding Guests

The bandits who abducted women accompanying a bride to her matrimonial home at Damari, Sabuwa LGA of Katsina State last Thursday have threatened to marry the bride and sell off the women.

The bandits in a video showing the captives threatened to tie the wedding knot between the already married lady and one of them unless relations of the captors paid a ransom of N100 million to them.

The Kidnappers also vowed to sell off the kidnapped wedding guests, if their demands were not met.

A gang leader, cladded in police uniform in a footage, put the captives’ number at 63.

He taunted the government saying they would marry off the bride if the ransom was not paid.

“I am the one who abducted them, and I will never release them until ransom is paid. And if there is anyone who thinks they could rescue them, they should try it,” he said.

Some of the captives were also seen in the footage with AK-47 rifles hung around their necks, while the bride was seen dressed in an army uniform, with one of the bandits saying “Here is the bride adorned in army uniform”.

The captives were heard pleading for help; asking their relations to pay the ransom.

Meanwhile, the family of the bride has confirmed that the terrorists were demanding a ransom of N100 million for the release of all the captives.

Haruna Abdullahi, an uncle of the bride, stated: “They are asking for N100 million as ransom. None of us has ever seen that amount of money; so I told them directly that we don’t have such funds.”

He also said the kidnappers told him they shot the video as a challenge to the state governor, Dikko Umar Radda, who was reported to have vowed to rescue the victims.

“They said they made the video to demonstrate their seriousness to the governor.”

Abdullahi disclosed that among those abducted were eight of his sisters and nine daughters.

Another family member, who simply identified himself as Zubairu, revealed that his wife, six children and 13 relatives were among the abductees.

Speaking to newsmen on the incident, the Katsina State Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Dr Nasiru Mu’azu Danmusa, said government officials had met with security agents and were devising ways of rescuing the captives unharmed.

He appealed to the relatives of the captives to exercise patience, saying that rescuing the abductees was not something that could be achieved overnight.