Bandits have ordered a ransom bearer to drink boiled Indian hemp at their hideout in the Katambi forest, near the Azara community in Kachia Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

A resident of Azara, Saleh Buba, said the incident happened on Tuesday after the ransom bearer, whom he identified as Ayuba Musa, delivered a N2 million ransom along with other items to the bandits.

The money and items were meant to secure the release of five women who were abducted from a farm in the area.

He said that after intense negotiations with the victims’ families, the abductors agreed on the N2 million ransom, which also included two bags of rice, 25 liters of palm oil, a carton of cough syrup, and Indian hemp.

According to him, Ayuba took all the requested items, including the N2 million, to the bandits at the designated location.

It was there, he said, that the bandits boiled a portion of the Indian hemp and ordered him to drink it.

“After the bandits collected all the items they had demanded, they took the Indian hemp and boiled it for him to drink,” Buba said.

“According to them, the ransom bearer might have poisoned the hemp, which is why they asked him to test it.”

However, after collecting the items, the bandits ordered Ayuba to return to the victims’ families and demand an additional N500,000 before the women would be released.

A community leader from the area also confirmed the incident to our reporter by telephone on Wednesday, stating that the bandits are still holding the five abducted women despite collecting the N2 million ransom and other items.

“It was around 6:34 pm on Tuesday when one of the victims’ relatives came to inform me that the man who took the ransom to the bandits was asked to go back and raise another N500,000 before the women would be set free,” he said.

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