Aminat Lawal, the sister of Rofiat Lawal, the National Youth Service Corps member who was kidnapped on the Benin-Ore Expressway on Tuesday, February 25, has revealed that the driver of the vehicle they were traveling in played a role in handing her sister over to the abductors.
Speaking with Punch on Thursday, February 27, Aminat explained that her sister was on her way back to her Place of Primary Assignment in Oyo State when the incident occurred. She recounted that the driver of the car they were in stopped at Ore, where the kidnappers emerged from a nearby bush, abducted them, and the driver sped off, leaving them behind.
Aminat further shared that the kidnappers contacted their family and initially demanded a ransom of N25 million for Rofiat’s release. However, after negotiations, the kidnappers reduced the ransom to N5 million.
Aminat told Punch, “She contacted us on Tuesday to inform us she was kidnapped and mentioned that the driver of the car she was in was the one who dropped them off at the location where she and other passengers were taken. When we spoke to the kidnappers, they demanded N25 million, but we explained that we couldn’t afford such a large sum. Rofiat supported herself through school, and after some back and forth, they lowered the ransom to N5 million.”
A friend of Rofiat, identified as Agbakwara, who raised the alarm on Facebook on Wednesday, February 26, described Rofiat as someone who worked hard to support herself through university at Dufil in Benin. He mentioned that Rofiat’s parents are less privileged and cannot afford the ransom.
The family has now turned to crowdfunding in hopes of raising the N5 million ransom as demanded by the abductors.