Bandits Kill Kaduna Farmer After Collecting ₦56m Ransom, Hand Over Corpse

Armed bandits operating along the notorious Kaduna-Abuja highway have killed a farmer after collecting a substantial ransom from his family and then returned his body.

Ibrahim Kadafa, popularly known as Ibro, was abducted with his friend Mustapha Shelpidi on 28 October 2026 while harvesting soybeans on his farm near Alheri Camp, kilometre 30 on the Kaduna-Abuja road. Kadafa, who worked in Abuja, had travelled to the farm to supervise activities when the gunmen struck and took both men into the bush.

Family sources said the kidnappers first demanded ₦100 million, later reducing the figure to ₦80 million after prolonged negotiations. After weeks of frantic efforts, the family paid ₦56 million together with three brand-new Samsung mobile phones and a ₦20,000 recharge card in the hope of securing Kadafa’s release.

The expected reunion turned into tragedy. When relatives went to collect him on Wednesday, 11 November, the bandits handed over his lifeless body instead. The family disclosed that Kadafa had sustained a gunshot wound to the leg while attempting to escape during the abduction. He received no medical attention throughout his roughly two weeks in captivity, and relatives believe complications from the untreated injury contributed to his death.

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The condition and whereabouts of his friend, Mustapha Shelpidi, were not immediately known.

The incident underscores the persistent insecurity along the Kaduna-Abuja corridor, a route that has long been plagued by bandit attacks and kidnappings despite repeated security operations. Families continue to face the dual trauma of ransom demands and, in cases such as this, the loss of loved ones even after meeting the captors’ terms.