By Godfrey AKON with Agency
The families of ex-Director-General of the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, Maharazu Tsiga, are in a race against time to raise N250 million ransom to secure his release.
Tsiga, a retired brigadier-general of the Nigerian Army, was abducted on Wednesday night at his house in Tsiga town in the Bakori Local Government Area of Katsina State.
PREMIUM TIMES reported on Sunday morning that the family was contacted on Friday by the kidnappers.
Tsiga, a large-scale farmer, was abducted on Wednesday alongside several other residents when he visited Tsiga village from Abuja.
The abductors simultaneously raided many communities in neighbouring Kankara Local Government Area.
Sources said the attack in Tsiga lasted a few minutes, leaving two residents wounded and one of the attackers mistakenly shot dead by his colleagues.
The police confirmed the abduction of Mr Tsiga and others, stating that they were collaborating with sister security agencies to rescue the captives unhurt.
The police spokesperson in the state, Abubakar Sadiq, disclosed this at a press briefing he held to review police activities in the previous month of January.
He said 45 suspects were arrested for various crimes within the period.
Mr Sadiq said on 6 February, the police division in Bakolori received information that suspected armed bandits attacked Tsiga village and immediately sent officers to the scene to rescue the situation.
“Unfortunately, before the arrival of the operatives, the hoodlums had already succeeded in their mission”, he added.
Katsina is one of several states in the North-Western and North-Central where bandits raid villages, kill and abduct residents as well as burn and loot homes.
The gangs, operating from a huge forest straddling Zamfara, Katsina, Kaduna and Niger States, engage in mass kidnappings, raiding of schools and abducting students.
Meanwhile, a federal lawmaker representing the Bakori/Danja Federal Constituency, Abdullahi Balarabe, described Mr Tsiga’s abduction as a troubling development.
The lawmaker urged the security agencies to intensify their efforts to rescue the retired army general.
