Kidnappers kill hotel owner, manager, guest, 2 vigilantes despite N25m ransom

• Two vigilantes from the community who took the ransom to the kidnappers were reportedly also killed.

A hotel owner, his manager and a guest that were kidnapped in Niger State have been murdered by their abductors.

The victims, who were kidnapped in Gauraka community in Tafa LGA of the middle belt State, were shot dead after the kidnappers collected N25 million ransom.

Two vigilantes from the community who took the ransom to the kidnappers were reportedly also killed.

The murdered vigilantes are Abubakar Muhammad and Ibrahim Garba.

An ex-Chairman of Tafa LGA and relative of one of the vigilantes, Yau Ahmad, confirmed the development.

He said the victims were murdered in the Dogon-Daji Forest which borders Kaduna and Niger State, as well as the FCT.

He said that the remains of the victims were taken to the air force base close to the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja following their discovery in the bush.

The commander of the Vigilante Group of Nigeria (VGN) in Tafa, Hussaini Abubakar, said the remains of his colleagues were laid to rest on Saturday following a clearance from the army.

He further said that a man abducted from the community about a month earlier was rescued with gunshot injuries and was in an army medical facility in Abuja.

The the victims were said to have been abducted in August 17, 2024, after the assailants stormed the hotel around 1 am and abducted all the lodgers in the facility.

Commander of the security vigilante in the area, Sabo Abdullahi, listed the victims as proprietor of the hotel, his younger brother and his wife, the hotel manager, as well as other guests.

He said the bandits who forced the gate of the facility opened on arrival, fired gunshots when they were leaving with their victims, which drew the people’s attention to the incident.

He said, “There was only one member of the security hunters close to the area and he fled the area on sighting them. On our own side, we were camping around the central part of the town, and it was already late by the time we received the information.”

Some residents while lamenting over the continued attacks on the town by the bandit, said the gunmen often take their victims to the forest nearby Apo community close to the area, as well as other areas along the Ijah-Koro, and Ijah-Gwari Road, which leads to Bwari town in the FCT.

According to City & Crime, Gauraka witnessed not less than five kidnapping incidents within the last four months