Gunmen have abducted a couple in Aviele Community near Auchi, the headquarters of the Etsako West Local Government Area of Edo State, Nigeria’s South-south.
The couple has been identified as Segiru Were and Zainab.
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PREMIUM TIMES gathered that the couple was abducted on 22 November when they were returning from Edo town to their residence in the Aviele Community.
Plea for help
In a video clip circulating on social media, the couple was seen begging Nigerians to help them raise N50 million ransom demanded by the kidnappers.
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In the clip shared on X by a human rights activist, Harrison Gwamnishu, armed men were seen pointing guns at the couple while they pleaded for help from Nigerians.
Mr Were was heard in the clip saying that they had been able to raise only N7 million out of the N50 million ransom demanded by their abductors.
“Please, try and help us. They (kidnappers) said they will collect N50 million ransom.
“My wife is pregnant. Please help us,” he said repeatedly in Pidgin English, while the kidnappers pointed guns at them.
The wife, Zainab, who was seated on the ground alongside her husband, was crying profusely and looking rather haggard and weak.
A man, who claimed to be a brother to Mr Were, was heard in the background of the clip saying that a witness, also a relative, reported that he saw when herders kidnapped the couple and took them into a nearby bush at about 7 p.m.
Mr Gwamnishu, in a post on X, said the kidnappers sent the clip to the family of the abducted couple and then demanded the N50 million ransom.
When contacted on Thursday night, the police spokesperson in Edo, Moses Yamu, asked our reporter to send a text message to him.
But Mr Yamu, a chief superintendent of police, was yet to respond to the text message seeking his comments as of Friday morning.
Kidnap-for-ransom
Edo, like other states in Nigeria, has continued to witness increased kidnap attacks in recent times.
Government officials, entrepreneurs, and even students have become targets for such attacks.
READ ALSO: Kaduna pastor dies in kidnappers custody – Official
Cult-related attacks and killings have combined to worsen the insecurity in the south-southern state.
In September this year, for instance, gunmen attacked an 18-seater bus, which belonged to the New Edo Line Transport Company, and two other vehicles, where 29 passengers were forcefully taken away.
Similarly, three seminarians were abducted on 11 July, during an armed attack on Immaculate Conception Minor Seminary, Ivianokpodi-Agenebode, Etsako East Local Government of Edo State.
