Barely five days after some gunmen abducted Benue Commissioner of Information, Culture and Tourism, Matthew Abo, the abductors have finally demanded a ransom of N60 million before he could be released.
A source close to the family dropped this hint on Friday.
According to Tribune, the abductors made the demand on Friday in a phone call to a member of the family.
It was gathered that the recipient of the call who preferred to be anonymous for security reasons said that the kidnappers had resorted to torturing the commissioner to press home their demand.
The source close to the family said that they called and placed their phone on loud so that their beating of the commissioner and his cries for help could be heard.
It will be recalled that the Commissioner was abducted last S Sunday in Zaki Biam by some gunmen who stormed his house on four motorcycles and ordered everyone in the house including the commissioner’s wife and children to lie face down.
The eyewitness said that the gunmen whisked away the commissioner to an unknown destination on one of the motorcycles.
Meanwhile, the Police Public Relations Officer for Benue State Command, Catherine Anene, said she was not aware of any ransom negotiation between the family and kidnappers.
“Investigation is ongoing. Police don’t negotiate ransom so I’m not aware of that,” she said.