The Nigerian police have paraded some men alleged to have kidnapped a Sierra Leonean diplomat in Kaduna.
Major General Nelson Williams, who is the deputy high commissioner of Sierra Leone to Nigeria, was kidnapped on Friday, July 1 in the state in what was an embarrassment to Nigeria.
“The diplomat has been reunited with the Sierra Leonean High Commissioner (ambassador) and his family. We were able to locate where he was kept at about 1500 hours. He is in sound health,” Police spokesman, Don Awunah told AFP.
He was however rescued by security operatives on Tuesday, July 5.
Leader of the gang, Yusuf told reporters that the sum of N1. 5million was paid by the Sierra Leone embassy to the kidnappers before the Police swooped on them and arrested the gang.
Asked how the gang came about the military camouflage they were using for the criminal operation and the AK 47 rifles which looked exactly like military weapons, the gang leader said one Musa who provided it for them was killed in a shootout with the police.
After the diplomat’s abduction last week, sources at the Sierra Leonian embassy, Abuja squealed to some journalists that the gunmen contacted senior embassy officials demanding for $40 million.
Immediately after the abduction, Sierra Leone’s President Ernest Bai Koroma was said to have sent a special envoy to Nigeria’s capital, Abuja to act as an intermediary between the kidnappers and the country’s high commission.
The suspects were paraded on Tuesday, July 12 at the Peace-Keeping Hall, Force Headquarters in Abuja.
Below are some of the photos taken during the parade:
