A former Chairman of the Niger State Universal Basic Education Board, SUBEB, and APC chieftain, Alhaji Mohammed Bawa Niworo, has been released after spending eight months in bandits’ captivity.
Sources said Niworo was freed after his family paid an additional N50 million ransom. This brings the total amount paid to N80 million, following an earlier N30 million payment shortly after his abduction in mid-September last year.
The release reportedly came after the bandits reduced their demand from the initial N150 million. Niworo was kidnapped along the New Bussa–Mokwa road near Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, IBBU, in Borgu Local Government Area.
“They requested N150 million. We paid N30 million last December, but they refused to release him,” a family member told journalists on condition of anonymity.
“A week ago, they contacted us again, demanded an additional N50 million, said he was sick, and threatened to kill him. We rallied round, paid the money yesterday, and they released him around 6 p.m.”
