A 25-year-old graduate, Funke Obatuyi, has detailed the horrific and dehumanizing negotiations her family endured after her father was kidnapped in Kogi State, including ransom demands and degrading insults directed at female family members.
Funke, who recently graduated in Human Anatomy, explained to *The Punch* that her father, a 58-year-old welder from Abuja, was abducted while traveling home from her convocation ceremony in Akure. The nightmare began when her father boarded a bus from Ikare Junction on Monday, November 17, 2025.
A Family Trapped Between Desperate Negotiators and Confused Authorities
When initial calls confirmed her father had reached Nasarawa State, the family’s relief was short-lived. Funke's stepmother soon revealed the devastating news: Mr. Ayotunde Obatuyi had been kidnapped, and the assailants were demanding an initial ransom of N10 million.
The family's attempts to secure official help were met with bureaucratic confusion. Funke's brother reported the incident to the Osun State CID but was told the case fell under the jurisdiction of Kogi State, where the kidnapping occurred. Officers at a local Anti-Crime Unit near her school in Akure confirmed they could not file a report for an incident outside Osun State. Traveling to Kogi to file the report was deemed impossible given the circumstances, leaving the family without formal police documentation and feeling abandoned.
Dehumanizing Negotiations: From Prostitution to Marriage Proposals
The subsequent phone calls with the kidnappers descended into psychological torture. The assailants would only answer the phone in the evenings, and their conversations grew increasingly vile.
When told the family could not raise the N10 million, the kidnappers first told the female family members to "go and do prostitution" to raise the funds. After her sister refused, the assailants then told her to "come and marry them instead." The threats were so severe that the family made a rule: only male members or the stepmother could call to negotiate, to shield other women from the abuse.
Under relentless pressure, the stepmother pleaded again the following night. This time, the kidnappers reduced the ransom to N5 million.
A Father’s Plea from Captivity
That same night, Funke was finally allowed to speak directly with her father. He confirmed he and all other passengers on the bus had been taken, describing a violent ambush where the assailants shot at the vehicle before herding everyone into the bush.
His message was desperate and clear: the situation was worsening, and the family needed to meet the kidnappers’ demands swiftly to secure his release.
The family's ordeal highlights the brutal reality of Nigeria's kidnapping epidemic, where victims' families face not just financial extortion but also systemic hurdles in seeking justice and horrifying psychological abuse from criminals operating with impunity.
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