…Reveals drugs, motorcycles, food, and alleged complicity, intelligence failures within the security system.
by Achadu Gabriel, Kaduna
In a gripping press interview, a former Special Adviser on Political Matters to the President, Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, recounted the harrowing 37-day kidnapping of his nephew, the late sister’s son, and three others on a farm near Kaduna-Kachia Road, in Kaduna State last year.
The former aide, who was serving in the Presidential Villa at the time, revealed details of daily negotiations with the bandits, multiple ransom payments totaling N175 million in cash, drugs, motorcycles, and food, and alleged complicity and intelligence failures within the security system.
He described a sophisticated, organized network behind the abductions and expressed frustration over the government’s inability to secure and rescue, despite providing precise coordinates.
Below is the interview with Arise Television, monitored by our Kaduna correspondent, Achadu Gabriel, in Kaduna. Excerpts:
Q: Can you walk us through what happened to your nephew last year?
A: Last year, my nephew, my late sister’s son, was kidnapped along with three other people. They had gone to a farm they hired. We used to go there and farm. They were kidnapped just a few miles, between Karuna on the way to Kachia.
Bandits came at night to the house, maybe a hotel in the village. One of them tried to run away. They followed him, shot him dead, dragged his body back so the other three could see what would happen, if they tried to run. The other three didn’t. They were taken a few kilometers into the bush and spent 36 days there; 37 days in total.
Q: At that time, you were working in government. What was your position?
A: At that time, I was the Special Adviser, Political, to the President. I was working in the Villa. There was hardly anybody I didn’t speak to.
Q: Did you have contact with the kidnappers and the victims during those days?
A: We gave them the coordinates, which was easy to get. For those 37 days, every single day we spoke with the bandits, and we spoke with my nephew and the two other people; every day, with four or five of his uncles.
We conversed every day. They would tell us their condition, we would negotiate, and the bandits would give them the phone. We insisted on speaking to him because we wanted proof of life. “Proof of life”?, yes.
Q: What did the kidnappers know about your family?
A: They made demands and they knew everything about him. They had done their research. The very day they picked him up they said, “You are Ismail Sahabi; you are what?
Your uncle is Special Adviser to the President, living in the Villa. He’s a big man. So, we’re going to get a lot of money.” They also told him about my other brother, Datti Baba-Ahmed. They said, “So, we’re going to ask for a lot of money.”
Q: What were their initial demands, and did you comply?
A: The first time they said, “Give us N25 million.” And we thought, okay. They also wanted three motorcycles and a lot of drugs, medication, rice, all sorts of things. We sent it to them. They told us where to go. Yes, we sent it to them.
But at the same time, we told everybody in government. I know just about everybody who was in government and I could walk into their offices and ask for sympathy: “Please, it’s my nephew. They’re going to kill him, if he’s not rescued.” People said, “Give us the coordinates.” And it was easy to get the coordinates.
Q: Despite giving coordinates, was anyone rescued?
A: If we give them all the coordinates, they will say, “Oh, they will not spend a day.” They spent 37 days. All in all, between the first day they were kidnapped and when they were released, we spent close to N175 million.
Q: How was that N175 million broken down?
A: About N120 million in cash, in three batches. People took it, we sent people to them, they gave us directions. One of the three times they even ran into military people who said, “You are going in the wrong direction, this is the way to go.”
When the bandits took the money, the people we sent to deliver it got lost and asked the military for directions. The military told them, “Take left, take right.” This is a serious indictment. Demolition. Take left. Take right. I’m sorry to say this; I regret this, but when we say there’s a system behind this organization… this is last year.
Q: What happened to the ransom after the bandits collected it?
A: When our nephew was released, we asked him what they did with all that money. He told us: if money got to them by 6 p.m., by 9 p.m. a whole bunch of their seniors would come, literally take away everything, leave a little bit of money, a little bit of drug, a little bit of medication in the camp where he was held.
He said the seniors would come and collect the money. They told them, “We are just safe keepers.” They have bosses. The people who were keeping them were just keepers. They had senior people ahead of them, and those people had senior people.
Q: You paid ransom despite its being illegal. Do you regret it?
A: In retrospect, I’m glad. We never went public, but we told government, everybody in government. I begged them because I didn’t believe those people would let them go, in spite of the fact that we were giving them everything.
I knew my nephew might likely be killed. When he was released, I could barely recognize him. He still has limb problems from an injury. If we hadn’t given that money, I’m sure they would have killed him. The very last money we sent, close to N100 million, was because they said, “This is the last demand. We want it by tomorrow, in 48 hours, or we’ll kill these people.” My nephew said, “They will kill us.”
Q: What was the government/security response all through the 37 days?
A: We are trying to rescue. 37 days. We are trying our best.
Q: You believe there’s more to these abductions than just “bandits”?
A: There is a system behind this. These are not just riffraff, Fulani people. I think there is a whole organization, a huge, very tight network. They have intelligence, they have access to weapons, they have access to communities. They are not people who just pick a general and take him into the bush and keep him until he dies. This can’t be.
Q: Final word?
A: I’m sorry to say this, but this is a serious indictment. If you see when we say there’s a system behind this organization… this is last year.