Akeem Kareem has been released after spending approximately three days in the den of kidnappers who snatched him on the Benin-Ore Expressway last Wednesday.
According to Sunday Special, Kareem’s son, Sefiu, shouted out about his father’s kidnapping along with an unknown number of others in the Ofosu section of the Benin-Ore Expressway.
Safiu told Sunday Special that the bandits who seized the victims on Wednesday afternoon were “already demanding money” in the amount of N20 million.
Speaking earlier on Thursday, he said his father and friends were driving to Warri, Delta State, after attending a party in Osogbo, Osun State.
He stated that the family learned of the abduction after the kidnappers phoned them via one of the phones confiscated from the travellers.
Safiu then took to social media to urge on the military and police to rescue his father, stating, “I don’t want to lose my dad.”
Sefiu verified to our journalist on Sunday that his father had been released, but only after a ransom of N3 million had been paid.
“They have released him after the payment (of) N3m,” Safiu told Platinum Times.
When asked if the police were involved in the rescue mission of his dad, he said he did not have full details yet.
“I have (not) got the details yet. My dad is relaxing now,” he simply said.
When contacted for a reaction to the development on Sunday, the Ondo State Police Public Relations Officer, Funmilayo Odunlami, confirmed to our correspondent that the kidnapped victims had been released.
“I got in touch with the DPO and I was told they have all been released,” Odunlami said.
When asked if a ransom was paid, the PPRO said, “I was not told that.”
Platinum Times reports that six sisters kidnapped in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory about two weeks ago, also regained their freedom on Saturday night.
The FCT Police Command on Sunday revealed the details of how the Al-Kadriyar sisters and other abducted victims were rescued from the bandits’ den in Kajuru forest in Kaduna State by a joint team of policemen and soldiers.
About 23 persons were abducted on January 2, 2024, in the Zuma 1 area of Kawu, in the Bwari Area Council of Abuja.
The police on Sunday confirmed that all the victims, including the five sisters whose abduction had raised nationwide concerns, were rescued at about 11 pm last week Saturday, and had since been reunited with their families.