The gunmen who kidnapped Augusta Douglas-Ayam, sister of Special Adviser to the President on Research, Documentation and Strategy, Oronto Douglas, have contacted the family of the victim to demand a princely ransom of N500 million.
The 48-year old was kidnapped on Monday evening at Ogbia waterside by nine gunmen camouflaged in Army uniforms, who arrived in a speedboat and shot sporadically into the air to scare people away.
However, the kidnappers contacted Augusta’s husband at about 2am on Thursday to demand the money.
According to a family source, the call lasted just some seconds and the kidnappers cut the line after the family attempted to negotiate, only for the family to try again and discover that the number was no longer reachable.
“The kidnappers said the money should be given to them on or before Friday this week otherwise they will kill our sister and drop her corpse where we will pick it,” he said.
“The amount they asked for is outrageous. Where do they expect us to get that kind of money? We asked them to make their demand reasonable but they angrily cut off the phone.
He added that the family could identify Augusta’s voice in tears in the background, which was no surprise because she was ill at the time of her kidnap.
“This is very painful,” he said. “We are still waiting for their call. We appeal to them to release our sister. We don’t have such money.”
