By John Egbokhan
The abductors of Hajiya Abdulahi Laraba, the mother of the ousted Chairman of the Nigeria Football Association (NFA), Sani Lulu, have rebuffed all entreaties by the latter to allow him speak with his aged mother, even as they have extorted recharge cards worth of N40,000 from the Kogi State-born football administrator.

Lulu

They also rejected the N1m offered by Lulu. The kidnappers want N200m. Disclosing this to Sports Vanguard yesterday, the Special Assistant to the former FA boss, Tunde Aderibigbe, said that Lulu, after rallying round concerned family members, was able to raise N1m, which he offered to the kidnappers, who in turn, turned it down, insisting that he must shop for more money.

But we gathered that Lulu, quietly told the kidnappers, that he was at a dead end as to how and where to raise more money to meet their high demand, stressing that he is an ordinary Nigerian, who should not be misconstrued with the lager than life image, being portrayed in the media..

“Alhaji Sani Lulu has been making serious efforts to secure the release of his mother but the kidnappers have refused to give up on their N200m demand. Worried over the condition of the captive, Lulu begged to speak to his mother but they did not oblige his request. Instead, they have been demanding for recharge cards from him, and as the last count, they had collected N40,000 worth of MTN recharge cards.

“Lulu is worried because he is at a loss as to what is happening to his mother. The woman in question is an old woman, who requires all the care that she can get and the fact that she is being held against her will, makes the matter, a little more worrisome.

“They think Lulu has so much money to be able to afford N200m but he told them that if what they have been reading from newspapers, was what prompted their attack, then they were dealing with the wrong person, because he does not have such money.

To even raise N1m, which he wanted to give to them to secure the mum’s release, he had to meet family members, who contributed their quota.

“But they said that we should go and look for more money, if possible, beg for people, if we want Hajiya Laraba back alive. We are still begging them to accept what we have because the situation is bad and we hope that they would listen to the voice of reason”, said a sober Aderibigbe, quoting what the kidnappers said.

Quizzed to ascertain the identities of the kidnappers, Lulu’s aide said that based on their accent and intonation, they appear to be from the eastern part of the country.

“They are somewhere in Abia State with the aged woman because we learnt that they drove her through the night, on the day that they captured her”, said Lulu’s personal assistant.

On efforts being made by the police to secure the release of the kidnapped,  Aderibigbe added he could not talk on that, instead, he urged the government to stem the tide of kidnapping, which has engulfed the nation.

“The way things are going now, most Nigerians would not travel to the eastern states because lives are no longer safe in this part of the country”, he said.