Bandits free kidnapped Kaduna judge’s children

Bandits have released the children of the kidnapped Kaduna Judge, Janet Gimba, after 15 days in the kidnappers’ den.

Our correspondent could not immediately ascertain whether or not the N150m ransom demanded by the bandits was paid.

There was no official confirmation either from the state government or the state command of the Nigeria Police.

However, the Chairman of the Kaduna Branch of the Nigerian Bar Association, Godwin Ochai, confirmed the release of the children on Tuesday.

Ochai thanked God “and everyone who stood by the family throughout the trying time.”

Details of their release were still sketchy as of the time of filing this report.

The PUNCH reports that the State Police Command’s Public Relations Officer, Mansir Hassan, ASP, said the hoodlums killed the 14-year-old eldest son of the judge, Victor.

He had said operatives found Victor’s corpse at Ungwan Bayero, Duste village along the Kaduna-Abuja Expressway on Tuesday, July 2, 2024.

The police spokesman said in the wake of the incident, the command and other sister security agencies were working tirelessly to rescue the victims and arrest the terrorists.

A human rights lawyer and Chief Executive Officer of the House of Justice, Gloria Ballason,  in a statement on Wednesday, said the judge and her four children were kidnapped by the bandits on Sunday.

“The abductors, reported to have been about 15, took their captives hostage and demanded a huge sum as ransom.

“On Tuesday, July 2, 2024, the terrorists shot dead the 14-year-old first son of the judge when the ransom demanded could not be obtained,” Ballason, a human rights lawyer, had said.

Ballason described the murder of Victor, the 14-year-old son of the Judge as “grisly and blood-curdling”, stating that no parent deserved the horror of watching their child being killed in such a cold, callous manner.

She had called on the Nigerian security agencies, the Governor of Kaduna state, the Nigeria Bar Association and the Judiciary to rise to the urgency of the moment for the protection of the lives of the judge and her children and to ensure justice was served.