Kidnappers demand N10m ransom, insists collecting only new naira notes

Some yet-to-be identified kidnappers, who invaded Kolo village, in the Gusau Local Government Area of Zamfara State, and abducted four persons consisting a man, woman and two children, have demanded N10 million ransom.

According to an indigene in the area, one Mohammed Ibrahim, the assailants, after much negotiations, later reduced the ransom to N5 million.

Ibrahim said while the people in the village were making efforts to raise the money to secure the safe release of the victims, the bandits notified them that they would only collect the ransom in new naira notes.

“As we were trying to gather the money demanded by the terrorists, they sent another message this morning that they would not collect old naira notes.

“They said they would keep the abducted persons in their camps until the release of the new naira notes in December,” Ibrahim stated.

Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari, today (Wednesday, November 23, 2022), unveiled the new notes of the three highest denominations of the Nigerian currency: N200, N500 and N1,000.

Buhari launched the redesigned notes at the Council Chambers of the Presidential Villa, Abuja, shortly before the commencement of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting.

Speaking at the naira notes unveiling ceremony, Godwin Emefiele, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), explained that the development would not only check corruption and abuse the Nigerian currency, but would also address terrorism.

Emefiele maintained that with the new naira notes, terrorism and kidnapping would be minimized as he expressed conviction that access to the large volume of money outside the banking system used as source of funds for ransom payments will begin to dry up.