Abuja not Safe : Body of Folorunsho Ariyo found alongside Nabeeha Al-Kadriyar

Some social media users are currently expressing anger following reports that one Miss Folorunsho Ariyo was killed alongside Nabeeha Al-Kadriyar by bandits in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

According to reports that the kidnappers dumped the remains of four victims they executed, around a former military checkpoint behind Idah Junction along the Bwari-Jere SCC Road in Kagarko Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

Among the corpses so far identified include a secondary school student identified as the daughter of the Ekiti state-born chief legal officer of the National University Commission (NUC), Folorunsho Ariyo, and a 500-level student of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria, Nabeeha Al-kadriyar.

While Ariyo was abducted along with her mother and three siblings two Sundays ago, Nabeeeha was seized with her father and five of her female siblings on January 9.

They were said to be kidnapped in the Bwari/Dutse area of the territory.

Nabeeha’s uncle had said they found the corpses of three other victims – two females and a male – when they went to pick the remains of their daughter.

Daily Trust gathered that Ariyo’s corpse was released to her family from the Umaru Musa Yar’adua General Hospital, Sabon-Wuse, Niger State, where it was deposited by the police.

The teenage girl was buried on Sunday, January 14, 2024, in Dutse Cemetery, Abuja, while the other members of the family remain with their abductors.

A community leader in the area, John Alpha Dogo, had said the bandits dragged the victims to the location on Friday night and executed them.

The situation has caused confusion at two communities –Bagye and Pashin– at Dnatan chiefdom, with residents leaving in droves out of fear.

Dnata chiefdom, carved out from Kagarko chiefdom in 2022 by the Kaduna State Government, has been under series of bandits’ attacks lately.

Meanwhile, details of the killing of Ariyo have elicited anger from social media users, with many calling for an end to insecurity in the nation’s capital.

Below are some social media reactions:

@PIDOMNIGERIA wrote: “Abuja is not safe. Repost for awareness.

@AGINAS: “It has never been this worse in Abuja. Elections truly have consequences. Some people’s bad decision has plunged the nationa into a failed state.

@ucheorji: “Abuja level of insecurity is alarming.

@bamidele_oye: “A whole Federal capital territory is not safe, now imagine other states.

@sweetbennyyy: “Yeah it’s not , last week there was an attack (kidnap )close to my house, thank God sha.

@harrizone98 said: “Everybody is talking about Nabeeha, who is bothered about Folorunsho Ariyo, daughter of Ekiti State born National University Commission Chief Legal Officer.

@akintollgate: “Hearing about the murder of Folorunsho Ariyo alongside Nabeeha is just devastating & heart breaking! Two promising souls with a lot of life ahead of them murdered by some imbeciles. It’s so upsetting!

@dayoisrael: “My prayers are with the Families of Mrs Folorunsho Ariyo and that of Najeeeba Al-Kadriya + her sisters. May the soul of the departed rest in Peace and may those still in the den of captors be safely released in Jesus name. I join other Nigerians in calling on our security agencies to do their best to rescue the remaining captives and increase security in and around Abuja, and Nigeria as a whole. May God heal our LAND.”

@enyola: “Folorunsho Ariyo, Nabeeha Al-Kadriyar…And the list goes on. To register a SIM, you need a NIN but terrorists are busy negotiating over phone lines, the @PoliceNG can’t track the calls and a former minister is the one raising fund for ransom. FCT Minister is busy chasing Rivers.

This newspaper reported that former Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof Isa Pantami, yesterday announced that a N50 million ransom had been raised for the release of Nabeeha’s five sisters.

The former minister said he spoke with “a friend and a brother” who wanted to pay N50 million from the ransom demanded by the criminals.

In a post via social media, he wrote, “Alhamdu lil Laah! I am personally not in support of paying ransom to criminals. However, since it becomes clear, we lost our daughter, Nabeeha, yesterday and the 5 remaining daughters have been threatened, as I spoke with the father on the matter yesterday and today.

Furthermore, I spoke with a friend and a brother who offered to pay the remaining N50 million of the N60m immediately. I conveyed the account number of the father of our daughters, Mansoor Al-Kadriyar, to the friend and brother to send the money directly. Any additional amount earlier generated from yesterday, the father can use to treat the daughters and other family members, in sha Allah.