Bandits, who abducted 29 wedding guests on Saturday in Sokoto, have asked to be paid a ransom of N145 million before they are released, the secretary-general of the Phone Sellers Association in the state, Nasiru Musa, told TVC News.
Many of the hostages are mobile phone dealers at the Bebeji Communication Market in Gusau, the capital of Zamfara State.
They were abducted on Saturday evening while returning from the wedding of one of their colleagues in Tambuwal in Sokoto.
“The bandits called twice on Monday morning to inform us of their stand regarding our members that are with them”.
“They said we should bring five million naira for each of the twenty-nine persons with them which in total is N145 million before they can be released,” Mr Musa said.
Immediately after the abduction, it was thought that 50 people were abducted but several of those thought to have been abducted returned home. Seven others were rescued by a member of a vigilante group operating in the area.
The chairman of the association, Mustapha Khalifa, on Tuesday said that some of them who escaped during the abduction are receiving treatment at the Talata Mafara General Hospital.
It would be recalled that bandits ambushed two buses conveying the wedding guests back to Gusau in Dogon Awo immediately after Bimasa village in the Tureta local government area of Sokoto.
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