Fresh concerns have trailed the abduction of six senior directors of the Federal Ministry of Defence as their captors have reportedly demanded a ransom of N150m for their release.
The officials were seized on November 10, 2025, along the Kabba–Lokoja highway in Kogi State while travelling from Lagos to Abuja for a Directorate-level promotion examination.
Sources said the victims were taken in a coordinated ambush mounted by armed men who barricaded the busy highway and whisked them away.
A relative of one of the victims, who spoke in distress, said the families were shattered by the ransom demand.
“We are still traumatised by what happened. Now the kidnappers are asking for N150 million to release all six of them.
How can we possibly raise such a huge sum? We beg them to free our loved ones unharmed; that is all we can plead for at this point,” the family member lamented.
The Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria, in a statement jointly signed by its President, Shehu Mohammed, and Secretary-General, Joshua Apebo, condemned the abduction and assured members that frantic efforts were underway to secure the victims’ freedom.
The union listed the abducted officials as Mrs Ngozi Ibeziakor, Mrs C. Emeribe, Mrs Helen Ezeakor, Mrs C. Ladoye, Mrs J. Onwuzurike and Mrs Catherine Essien — all senior staff members of Command Day Secondary School, Ojo, Lagos.
It added that the Ministry of Defence had activated a coordinated emergency response, engaging security agencies and relevant authorities to fast-track the rescue of the kidnapped directors.