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For 10 months that her daughter was in captivity, Mrs Musiliat Olawale, the mother of the recently-freed Dr Ganiyat Popoola, revealed she never lost hope that her daughter would be released.
Though not losing hope, Olawale said she constantly felt sad whenever her daughter in the kidnappers’ den told her over the phone that there were days she was given no food or was offered food once a day, apart from other maltreatment.
Speaking exclusively with The PUNCH, the aged mother recounted times when the family received threats from the abductors but said they kept hope alive with constant prayers.
On October 30, 2024, Dr Ganiyat Popoola, who was abducted on December 27, 2023, regained her freedom after 10 months in captivity.
Popoola, a registrar in the Department of Ophthalmology at the National Eye Centre, Kaduna State, was kidnapped alongside her husband, Squadron Leader Nurudeen Popoola, and her nephew, Folaranmi Abdul-Mugniy, who resides with them.
Following extensive negotiations with the kidnappers, her husband was released on March 8, 2024, but the doctor and Abdul-Mugniy remained in captivity.
Speaking further, Olawale disclosed that her daughter was still undergoing medical treatment and examination at an undisclosed location.
“We never lost hope, we held on to the belief that by the grace of God, they will return to us.
“When we got the information of her release, we were glad and thankful to God.
“Of course, when she was held hostage, there were times when they called and threatened us. We always felt sad whenever we received phone calls that they were still being held hostage. But we kept the hope alive that God would rescue the situation.
“Dr Ganiyat is still undergoing medical treatment after her release. We believe she suffered some maltreatment because, at times, when we received calls from the kidnappers’ den, they would tell us that they were not given food all day and that the last time they ate was the day before.
“We have not got the full details of what she went through as she is still undergoing medical treatment and examination.”
She said the kidnappers allowed them to talk to her from time to time during the period she was in captivity.
“Various measures were taken to secure her release, some of which we were not informed about, but we played our part through constant prayers for their release.
“We were allowed to talk to them from time to time and it is on those occasions that they sometimes tell us they ate once a day or did not eat for the day,” she said.
On whether ransom was paid to secure Dr Ganiyat’s release, Olawale affirmed the position of the President of the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors, Tope Osundara, that no ransom was paid to secure the release of the consultant.
Olawale praised the efforts of the government to secure her daughter’s freedom months after her husband, Nurudeen, and nephew, Folaranmi Abdul-Mugniy, had been released.
She, however, stressed the need for the government to intensify efforts to guarantee the security of Nigerians across the country, just as she called for the creation of more job opportunities, positing that “idle hands are the devil’s workshop.”
She said, “We didn’t pay ransom for Dr Ganiyat’s release; the only payment was the initial one made to secure her husband’s release.
“The family did not pay to secure her release; it was all done by the government. I won’t specify where she is receiving medical treatment at present, but she has been freed.
“We are thankful to the government for the great efforts to secure the release of our daughter. We enjoin the government to pay more attention to security in the country.
“We believe if efforts are intensified regarding our security, kidnappings like the one that happened to us would not be recorded.
“Although we were informed that there was security around when they were kidnapped, we still don’t know how they successfully carried out the kidnap.
“That is why we believe there is a need for security to be intensified across the nooks and crannies of the nation to avert such incidences.
“More jobs should also be created for Nigerians because idle hands are the devil’s workshop. It is likely that those who carried out the kidnap were unemployed, or hungry, hence resorted to abduction. They may believe that by abducting people, they will get money,” Olawale said.
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