Three weeks ago, my 23-year-old neighbor was kidnapped on her way to Kontagora in Niger State.
While in captivity, the bandits repeatedly raped her taking turns sleeping with her night after night. Still, they kept bargaining with her father over the phone, demanding ransom even as they violated her.
Her father fought with everything he had. He hustled day and night, borrowed from everyone, took loans, sold whatever he could determined to bring his daughter home.
When he finally gathered the full amount, he called the bandits and begged them, ‘Please, give the phone to my daughter. Let me speak to her. I want her to know I’m coming for her.’
They gave her the phone.
In a broken, traumatized voice, she told her father: ‘Dad, do not suffer yourself looking for the money. They have been sleeping with me. I’m traumatized. I can’t forgive myself. Even if I’m released, I’ll kill myself. Don’t bother paying the ransom.’
Those were the last words she ever spoke to him.
While her father was still holding the phone, he heard the gunshot. He heard his daughter being killed. Moments later, the bandits sent pictures of her remains to him, a final act of cruelty.
A 23-year-old girl. My neighbor. Someone’s daughter, someone’s sister, someone’s friend gone in the most horrific way possible.
This is not just one story. This is the nightmare too many families are living in Niger State and across Nigeria. Young women snatched on the roads, violated, used as bargaining chips, and discarded like nothing.
Living in Nigeria has become truly scary. You wake up, you step out, and you don’t know if you or your loved ones will return home. The fear is constant. The pain is constant. And too often, justice never comes.
Rest in peace to my neighbor.
As a survivor of kidnapping and banditry, I can tell you that these criminals believe that no matter how much they take from you, you will eventually work and earn it back after your release.
Let me use myself as an example. After my family paid the ₦15 million ransom they demanded, along with other items worth over ₦600,000, they still weren't satisfied. They continued demanding more money and eventually asked for ₦55 million. They even told my mother to sell her house and car to raise the money.
Because my family rented a vehicle to deliver the ransom and other requested items, the kidnappers assumed we owned the car and were wealthy. They kept insisting that we sell all our properties and hand over the proceeds to them.
Omo, it was a terrible ordeal. The fear, pressure, and emotional torture were overwhelming. Watching my family struggle to meet their endless demands was heartbreaking.
One painful reality is that they often target ordinary and struggling people like us because we are easier to capture than the elites, who usually have better security and protection.
This is why we cannot continue to stay silent. Kidnapping and banditry have destroyed countless lives, families, and dreams across Nigeria. We need to raise our voices, stand together as a nation, and demand urgent action against insecurity.
Today it may be someone else's family. Tomorrow it could be yours. Enough is enough. 💔🇳🇬🙏🏽
A school was attacked in Oyo state
Students kidnapped.
Teachers kidnapped.
One teacher has been beheaded 💔😭
The rest are being tortured somewhere.
But everywhere is quiet.
What kind of country is this💔😭💔