Jonathan Nwokpor
Adewunmi The leader of the band from Abuja, Samuel Sofomade, has revealed the sum of money used to secure their release. The band was abducted along the Lokoja highway.
According to ZINGTIE, the band leader was kidnapped in December 2023 while traveling back from a performance in Kogi State with his team.
The 13 men were taken prisoner for a few days before being freed.
The band leader, also known as Omoba De Jombo Beats, spoke about his trauma in a recent interview with BBC Yoruba; however, before they were freed, the kidnappers lowered their demand from N10 million to N7 million each.
“We were 13 that went to perform at a burial ceremony in Itakete Isao, close to Isan-Olu in Kogi State. And we had to move by road because they don’t have an airport in Kogi.
“We had gone since Thursday. We finished performing at about 5:30 pm on Friday. So we felt that there was still time to return to Abuja. The incident happened just after we have past Dangote Cement.
“We spent six days with the kidnappers inside a very thick forest and the six days felt like six years because a lot of things happened in that forest.
“They asked for N10 million each. We started begging their commandant that we could not gather N10 million. He later reduced it to N7 million each.
“When we received the information that the money had been completed but there was no cash during the December period, we started looking for cash. They initially agreed that the money be converted to dollars, but their leader later changed his mind and insisted on naira.”
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