Kidnappers Said N4m Can’t Buy ‘Pure Water’ – Abuja Community

The Dnako community in Bwari Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory, which was attacked by kidnappers two weeks ago, has revealed that the attackers scoffed at their offer of N4m as ransom, saying it cannot “buy them pure water”.

According to a native of the community, Mr. David Gyiwodeyi, during an interview with THE WHISTLER on Tuesday, the kidnappers initially demanded N100m but later reduced it to N65m.

The community pleaded for help to raise the ransom to secure the release of their kidnapped relatives.

“We need any help we can get to get our people. They asked for N100m and we bargained with them. We told them we only have N4m and they said no. They told us that the four million cannot even buy pure water for them. They said we should bring N65m. Since yesterday and today (Monday and Tuesday), they haven’t called, but we are expecting their call. We don’t know what to sell to get this type of money,” he said.

The kidnappers had invaded the community on March 11, 2025, and abducted nine people, including the village head, two of his grandchildren, and five other residents.

The village head was later killed, and his corpse was dumped in Kaduna State.

Gyiwodeyi explained that the kidnappers may have targeted the community because of a recent compensation paid by the FCT administration for a parcel of land.

He suspected that there may be an informant within the community who provided information to the kidnappers.

“They told us that there is one land that we were compensated for by the FCT Administration. The money wasn’t even much. Maybe…that is why they thought that we have money in the community. Since the issue of kidnappers, they have never come here. Even when we were telling them that we have only four million to give to them, they said we are more than that. I believe there is an informant. The compensation was around December,” he said.

The resident said they are currently organising themselves to keep safe, but added that they are facing challenges due to poor network connectivity, which makes it difficult to communicate during emergencies.

“Right now, we have organised ourselves to keep watch. We have our own vigilante, but our issue is the frustrating network. When something is happening and you want to get quick help, it is difficult because the networks are down,” he said.

Kidnappers Said N4m Can’t Buy ‘Pure Water’ – Abuja Community is first published on The Whistler Newspaper