Three victims of a recent kidnapping in Asa LGA of Kwara State have regained their freedom, after spending 19 days in the den of their abductors.

The trio of Sulaiman Saheed, Abdulmumin Abdulwahab and Uthman Tsaragi (vigilante) were released after their abduction on a poultry farm in Obate area, along Bala community, Asa LGA.

It was gathered that the incident happened in December 2022, when the kidnappers stormed the farm and whisked away the farm manager, a staff, and the vigilante.

According to a resident of Obate, who simply identified himself as Lukman, “The kidnappers stormed the farm to steal chicken when the vigilante raised the alarm. The manager and other staff then came out, and they were all kidnapped.”

He noted further that the vigilante operative was attached to the VGN headquarters at Gaa Saka, Oke-fomo area of Ilorin.

When City & Crime visited the VGN headquarters on Sunday, the chairman and Serikin Daji of Ilorin, Alhaji Ibrahim Abdullahi, confirmed the incident, adding that it happened 19 days ago.

“Information got to our office, and we informed the police command; we deployed our operatives to support the police officers in searching for the victims.

“After we got information, we searched for them at Shao, Asa Dam, and Eiyenkorin areas, but found nothing after combing the bush for days.

“The suspects called, and they said they knew that we were looking for them while they were monitoring all our movements and efforts. They demanded N20m ransom.

“Thereafter, they called and gave the phone to our kidnapped operative, Tsaragi, who told us that they threatened to kill him if any of us searched for him and others again,” the VGN chairman noted.

He said the collective effort made later got them released, adding that the victims are currently at a private hospital receiving treatment.

However, a village source told our reporter that N15m was paid to secure the release of the victims, who are still recuperating at the hospital.