By
Abubakar Sadiq Isah
The Principal of Junior Secondary School (JSS) Naharati in the Abaji Area Council, Zakari Abdulkadir Yelwa, his wife, Rakiya Zakari Yelwa, and their daughter, Hafsat Dauda, have been reportedly abducted.
Abuja Metro reports that their abduction comes barely a week after Ishaya Ismaila, a teacher at LEA Primary School Dakwa 1 in the Bwari Area Council of the FCT, was kidnapped while harvesting maize in Tungan Maje.
Ishaya was, however, freed after the payment of a N1 million ransom and the provision of packets of cigarettes, hemp, and other hard drugs.
Principal’s son recounts attack
Speaking on the latest abduction, the principal’s son, Mohammed Zakari Yelwa, confirmed the kidnapping of his family members when our reporter visited their residence, opposite the Government Science Technical College (GSTC), on Wednesday morning.
He said the incident occurred around 10:12 pm during a heavy rainstorm.
According to him, the kidnappers scaled an uncompleted security fence to gain entry into the compound.
“I was sleeping in my room when one of my younger brothers, who was sleeping in the parlour, rushed in and informed me that some suspected armed men were forcing the main door open,” he said.
He immediately got up and locked his own room, where he and his younger brother took cover.
“I was hearing a strange sound from my bedroom when the gunmen were struggling to force the main door open. When they couldn’t open the door, they went to one of the windows, forcefully pulled down the burglary proof, and entered. They went straight to my father’s bedroom,” he recounted.
He said the kidnappers then ordered his father into his mother’s bedroom before whisking away his mother and younger sister at gunpoint.
Principal’s wife freed
According to Mohammed, the kidnappers later freed his mother after about 20 minutes in the bush when they realized she could not walk fast enough.
“It was about 20 minutes later when I heard a knock on the door. I got up and discovered it was my mother. She said she was asked to return home,” he said.
He confirmed that, as of the time of the interview, the abductors had not yet established contact with the family regarding a ransom.
A member of the vigilante group, who preferred anonymity, confirmed the abduction of the principal, his wife, and their daughter.
He said the vigilantes mobilized immediately upon receiving a distress call to trace the kidnappers’ footsteps.
“Unfortunately, the vigilantes could not trace their direction, but the principal’s wife was freed when she could not walk again,” he said.
Our reporter observed sympathizers, including neighbours and some secondary school principals, trooping to the victims’ residence on Wednesday morning to sympathize with the woman and family members.
A police source at the Abaji Area Command confirmed the incident but referred Abuja Metro to the command’s headquarters for details.
At the command, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) was reportedly not available when Abuja Metro visited yesterday.
She neither responded to calls nor a text message sent to her on the incident as of the time of filing this report.
