30-Second Video: Kidnapped Women Plead for Freedom as Bandits Demand 130 Motorcycles

The kidnappers of 26 women from Allawa Community in Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State have released a disturbing video featuring two of their captives, pleading for their families to meet the kidnappers’ demands.

In the 30-second video, one of the women, tied to a tree, calls out to a relative named Abdulrahman in Hausa, begging him to provide the motorcycles needed for their release.

“Umar, please talk to Abdulrahman. They have brought me to a service area now. They said they cannot release me until the items they demanded are delivered. They said I should talk so that you will hear my voice.

I have injuries on my legs. For the sake of Allah and His Prophet, help bring the items. They said if you bring the items, they will release me along with Hajiya. I am here with Hajiya,” she pleaded.

Abba Usman, a resident, confirmed that the women in the video are among those kidnapped in February. He revealed that the families had already provided six motorcycles but now face demands for four more before the women can be freed. The kidnappers are asking for five motorcycles for each of the 26 women, each motorcycle valued at N2 million.

“My mother and my sister were among those kidnapped seven months ago on Allawa-Pandogari Road. On that day, eight men were killed before the women were taken away. The bandits have asked us to provide five motorcycles for each of the 26 women. We couldn’t raise the money, which is why they are still in captivity,” Usman said.

He added, “Recently, they sent a video showing two of the women. The families of these two women provided six motorcycles, but the bandits have now demanded four more motorcycles. They sent the video to confirm that the women are still alive and will be released once the additional motorcycles are provided. For now, we don’t even have anything left to sell to raise money for these motorcycles.”

Meanwhile, the Gbenu Boknu Yakwo Association, a Gbagyi socio-cultural group, has urged Niger State Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago to remove the Commissioner for Homeland Security, Brigadier General Bello Abdullahi (RTD). The group criticized the commissioner for denying that bandits and terrorists have taken over Allawa and for his failure to address the worsening security situation in the region.

In a statement, Bako Wakili Bosso, President of the Gbenu Boknu Yakwo Association, expressed disappointment in the commissioner for his recent false claims that normalcy had returned to Allawa. “The commissioner’s assertion during a BBC Hausa service interview—that normalcy has returned to Allawa in Shiroro LGA—mockingly disregards the suffering of residents who have been displaced from their ancestral lands due to banditry and terrorism,” the statement read.

The group also condemned the commissioner’s attempts to manipulate public perception and trivialize the plight of those affected by the ongoing crisis, calling his actions grossly inefficient and incompetent.

They have called on the governor to urgently remove the commissioner and for both state and federal governments to take decisive action to eliminate the terrorists and allow displaced residents to return home and resume their farming activities.