12 ASPs in police convoy kidnapped, family selling properties to pay ransom

Twelve Assistant Superintendents of Police (ASPs) who were embarking on special duty from Katsina to Zamfara have all been abducted by suspected bandits, BBC Hausa reports.

Speaking to BBC Hausa, the wife of one of the officers said that her husband had called and instructed her to sell his house in order to raise the ransom. She added that she knows the families of the eight other abducted officers.

It was gathered that families of all the officers are working to raise 800k each for their rescue.

When BBC contacted the Borno Police Command, from where the officers were deployed, they directed the BBC to the Katsina or Zamfara Commands. However, both police commands claim to have no knowledge of the incident.

Sharing his view on Twitter, popular columnist, Bulama Bukarti, wrote:

That officers were abducted together speaks volumes on the extremely scary situation developing in the northwest. If police officers in police convoy could be abducted, what more of ordinary Nigerians with no arms, training or equipment? It’s clear that we are playing with fire.

The security architecture in Nigeria seems to be overstretched as the Military has spent over a decade battling Boko Haram insurgency in the North-East and the banditry crisis in the North-West and North-Central regions is beginning to speak volumes.