- A local privy to the incident told newsmen that the kidnappers killed him at the spot they told the family to bring the ransom to.
In Benue State, one Terzungwe Shaku has been murdered by his abductors after payment of N5.5m ransom by the deceased family.
The deceased was a prominent farmer in Akor village in Nzorob Council Ward, Guma Local Government Area of the State.
It is gathered that the deceased was kidnapped before the New Year celebration and the abductors had demanded N20m as ransom but the family was able to negotiate down to N5m.
A local privy to the incident told newsmen that the kidnappers killed him at the spot they told the family to bring the ransom to.
“It is true. Akor is my village. He (Terzungwe) owns a provision shop in Akor. Early last year, Fulani herdsmen attacked him.
“But this time around, some gunmen kidnapped him, just before the New Year and took him away for about two weeks. They demanded a ransom of N10m but his family negotiated with them and they arrived at a ransom of N5.5m.
“Unfortunately, the gunmen killed him at the same spot where they had directed the family to drop the ransom. What happened is that he was eventually shot and killed by his abductors.” the source said.
Both the Guma LGA boss and state police command said they were not aware of the incident.
The Chairman of Guma LGA, Maurice Orwough, said, “I am not aware of the incident.”
Also, the spokesperson for the state command, Catherine Anene, said, via terse SMS, “I don’t have this information, please.”