Mr David Ayele, APC candidate for Obi 11 State Constituency seat in Nasarawa State, who was abducted in his house Sunday morning, has quoted his captors as saying that they were given N3 million to kill him.
“My kidnappers told me that they were given N3 million to kill me. They told me that they refused to carry out the order because they discovered that I am a good man,” Ayele told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), on Thursday in Jos.
NAN reports that the politician, who was abducted by unknown gunmen in front of his house in Lafia, was recovered on Wednesday by personnel of the Special Task Force (STF), maintaining peace on the Plateau.
According to Maj. Gen. Augustine Agundu, Commander of the STF, the victim was accosted while “wandering” near Aningo, in Namu, Quan Pan Local Government of Plateau.
“The troops intercepted him as a wanderer and interrogated him to confirm that he was really a kidnap victim. He was thereafter moved to 332 Artillery Regiment Barracks, Shendam where he was subjected to medical assessment.”
“When it was confirmed that he was in good condition, he was subsequently moved to the headquarters of the STF in Jos. We intend to hand him over to the Plateau Police Command, who will take necessary administrative procedures to reunite him with his family and community,” Agunu said.
Ayele, who spoke on his travails in the hands of his captors, said that the kidnappers spared him because he was nice to them.
“They, however, requested that I must pay a ransom of N2 million to secure my release. They allowed me to call a relation who eventually mobilised the ransom money and took it to the arranged location,” he explained.
The House of Assembly candidate vowed to continue with his ambition, despite his travails, and cautioned politicians against seeing elections as a do or die affair. (NAN)
