Funke Obatuyi, a 25-year-old Human Anatomy graduate, shared with The Punch the fear and anxiety she experienced following the abduction of her father, Mr. Ayotunde Obatuyi, by unknown assailants.
She explained that her convocation took place on November 14 at the Federal University of Technology, Akure. Her father, a 58-year-old welder based in Abuja, had attended the ceremony and planned to return home two days later. He traveled from their hometown in Osun State and boarded a bus at Ikare Junction in Akure on Monday, November 17, heading to Abuja.
Funke recounted that on Tuesday she was informed her father had reached Nasarawa. She then contacted her stepmother, who later revealed that her father had been kidnapped and that the abductors were demanding a ransom of N10 million. Her stepmother reportedly sought assistance, including visiting a police station, though Funke was unsure of the outcomes.
She added that her brother also approached the Osun State CID to file a formal report, but the authorities directed her to the Anti-Crime Unit near her school.
There, she explained the situation, but officers informed her that a police report could not be issued in Osun State because the incident occurred in Kabba, Kogi State.
She said traveling to Kogi to obtain the report was impossible under the circumstances, leaving the family without official documentation.
Funke also noted that by Wednesday, any calls to her father’s phone were answered only in the evenings, and when the line connected, it was the kidnappers who spoke on the phone.
Further talking, she said, “When the kidnappers picked the call, my stepmother was standing outside because that was where they told her to wait. Initially, it was my sister who called them. They told her straightaway to go and look for N10m. She told them we didn’t have such an amount. That was when they told her to go and do prostitution to raise the money.
“But she told them she couldn’t do that. Then they said she should come and marry them instead. Because of that conversation, my sister said no female should call them again. Only male members of the family — or my stepmother — would call.”
Funke Obatuyi explained that her stepmother contacted the kidnappers again the following night, pleading on the family’s behalf and noting that they could not raise the full N10 million demanded. The abductors then reduced the ransom to N5 million. After ending the call, her stepmother informed the family of this update.
That same night, she requested to speak directly with her father, and the kidnappers allowed it. Her father confirmed that the abduction had occurred on Monday, November 17, and that all the passengers on the bus had been taken.
He described how the assailants shot at the bus before forcing everyone into the bush. He warned the family that the situation was worsening and urged them to act swiftly to meet the kidnappers’ demands.
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