DAILY POST recalls that gunmen in military uniform had on Wednesday, December 18, 2019, kidnapped two, including the district head, along the Birnin-Gwari highway in Birnin-Gwari Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
Birnin-Gwari, the gateway to the South-Western part of the country, had over the years been taken over by bandits, kidnappers and other criminal elements terrorising residents and travellers, especially on the highways.
The town shares boundary with three States of Niger, Katsina, and Zamfara.
The gunmen in military uniforms were said to have intercepted a commuter vehicle along the Birnin-Gwari Road by Ungwan Yakwo and kidnapped the district head, Alhaji Yahaya Abubakar, and a former Education Secretary at the Birnin-Gwari LG, Alhaji Ibrahim Musa, according to the police.
But DAILY POST gathered on Friday that while the sum of N3.5m was paid after which the education secretary was released by the kidnappers, the district head was still held captive.
According to a source, the kidnappers said the N3.5m paid was part of the ransom demanded, asking for more before they could release the monarch.
It was learnt that he miraculously escaped from his captors in less than 48 hours after the release of the former education secretary.
Though the State Command of the Nigeria Police has yet to confirm the development, the Chairman, Birnin – Gwari Vanguard for Security and Good Governance, Alhaji Ibrahim Nagwari in a signed statement, said the district head escaped from the den of the kidnappers.
Meanwhile, the organization has condemned what it described as “kangaroo” peace accord with bandits entered into by the Birnin – Gwari LGA administration.
The statement issued in Kaduna on Friday, said: “The District Head of Birnin-Gwari, Ahaji Yusuf Yahaya that was kidnapped at gunpoint on December 18, 2019, along Kaduna-Birnin-Gwari notorious highway has escaped to safe heaven in the early hours of today.
“The District Head, escaped in the night yesterday at Sabon Birni village behind Kaduna international airport around 5.30 am and sent an urgent message to a close associate to pick him up.”
“In the last Forty-eights hours after the release of Former Education Secretary and Wakilin Makaranta of Birnin-Gwari, Alh Ibrahim Musa, the faith of the District Head was doubtful after payment of Three million, five hundred thousand naira was made to kidnappers which they tagged part payment.
“After long hours of uncertainty and threat to the life of the District Head and Sarkin Kudu of Birnin-Gwari, he miraculously escaped to freedom after the kidnappers led by Dogo Gide went asleep,” the statement said.
