By Ibrahim Abdul
In a spirit of camaraderie, policemen close to a DPO, Ahijo Mujeli, abducted by gunmen on Tuesday, have started contributing N10,000 per head to get the abducted DPO release police and family sources have said.
A family source also confided that , ” the kidnappers have made an initial ransom demand of N50 million, but we are still bargaining.
“They called on Wednesday night and demanded N50 million. Negotiations is currently ongoing as the family has only little to offer.
” The police has asked us not to speak to anyone about the issue as any false move may scuttle their efforts to rescue him. They said they are on top of the matter and even told us they are tracking movements of the abductors. They told us that the kidnappers are somewhere between Mubi and Cameroon republic,” he said.
Also a policeman close to the abducted DPO told reporters in confidence that because of the fear for the abducted policeman’s life, his friends have tasked themselves at least N10,000 each to help raise some money.
The source said: “Right now we have tasked ourselves to squeeze at least N10,000 per head in order to rescue our abducted colleague.
“Some of the well to do among us have promised to donate between N15,000 to N30,000 to raise good amount money but the least we have pegged is N10,000,” he said.
The source disclosed that they resorted to adopt the measure as a last resort to save a colleague in trouble, noting that as police officers who are in the know of the inner workings of the system, they know the only way out is to contribute towards realising the ransom that will be demanded.
“We are in better position to know that our colleague is in real danger, that is why we are making the supreme sacrifice with the little resources at our disposal to get the DPO out of the kidnappers den,” the source added.
The police Spokesman in the state, DSP Suleiman Yahaya, said the DPO was abducted by gunmen on Tuesday night, along Mubi-Maraba road.
“He was driving in his personal car around 6.30 p.m., along Mubi-Maraba road near the toll-gate when he was abducted.
“There were gunshots around the area. When our men arrived, they met an empty car identified as his,” he said.
Nguroje added that the anti-kidnapping unit and Intelligence Response Team (IRT) of the Inspector General of Police (I-G) had swung into action, trailing the suspected kidnappers.
But when When called on Thursday for an update, the PPRO said that, ” the police are still on the trail of the abductors,” promising that they will not rest on their oars until the abducted policeman is freed and the authors of the crime arrested.
