Gunmen abduct female footballers in Edo, demand N30m ransom

Gunmen have reportedly abducted players and officials of a grassroots female football team in Urhonigbe, a border community between Edo and Delta states in Orhionmwon Local Government Area of Edo state

The Punch gathered that the six victims, consisting of players and officials, were kidnapped around 6pm on Friday, August 12, 2022.

How it happened: They were said to be on their way back from a football match at Owa-Alero in Ika North-East Local Government Area of Delta State when the kidnappers accosted them.

A source in the community told the paper that the abductors had reached out to some families demanding a ransom of N5 million each for the victims.

The source account: “They (footballers) went to Owa-Alero to play football match so, on their way back, they were kidnapped at Urhonigbe area, the boundary between Delta and Edo State.

“The victims include Mrs Precious Agbajor, one Abraham, Nancy, Beatrice, the driver and one other person. They are six in number that is in the kidnapper’s den. The matter has been reported to the Urhonigbe police station.

“The kidnappers have contacted the family of Agbajor and asked them to pay N5 million for his wife.”

Conflicting accounts from police: Meanwhile, when contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer in Delta state, DSP Bright Edafe, confirmed the that the incident happened on Edo soil.

His counterpart in Edo, Chidi Nwabuzor, however, said there's no information about the accident from the record available to the State Command.

“You know we transmit our records to Force Headquarters every day. There is no such record before us. From the command’s record, no such incident happened yesterday (Friday) so the police will not give an account of anything unreported.

“It is only when an incident is reported that the police can act on it. In most cases, citizens are not aware of the powers to report incidents. So the record I have from the command is that no such incident happened yesterday (Friday), today (Saturday), and even the day before yesterday (Thursday)," he said.