A newly qualified radiographer has been kidnapped whilst travelling from Sokoto State to Osun State to begin an internship, with her captors demanding a ransom of 200m naira (£108,000) for her release, the punch has reported
Basherah Ojedeyi was abducted following a vehicle breakdown in Niger State’s Mokwa area on Monday, according to family sources who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The kidnapping occurred barely a week after Peace Udoka Onyesom, a recently called-to-the-bar lawyer, was seized alongside her sister Gift whilst returning from her admission ceremony in Abuja.
Ms Ojedeyi had been inducted into the professional radiographers’ association last week and was scheduled to commence her internship at a state-owned hospital in Osogbo this week.
The family said she departed Sokoto on Sunday for what is typically an 18-hour journey. On Monday afternoon, around 14:00 local time, she contacted relatives to inform them that her vehicle had broken down in Mokwa and was being repaired. After that call, her phone became unreachable.
“We called her several times till evening, and her number was not reachable. We began to suspect that something was wrong,” the family source told reporters.
The kidnappers made contact with the family on Tuesday morning, demanding the substantial ransom and threatening to kill Ms Ojedeyi if their demand was not met.
“We informed them that we could not afford such an amount, but they are sticking to the 200m naira demand which we cannot afford,” the source added.
A family member in Sokoto has reported the incident to police commissioners in both Sokoto and Niger states.
When contacted on Tuesday, Niger State Police Public Relations Officer Wasiu Abiodun and his Sokoto counterpart Rufai Ahmad said they would verify the incident.
