From Scholastica Hir, Makurdi
The former chairman of Ukum Local Government Area (LGA) of Benue State, Washima Erukaa, who was kidnapped in September this year, has reportedly died in custody after spending over one month with his abductors.
The family of the slain former chairman disclosed that they paid the abductors of the 80-year-old man ransom four times without securing his release.
Erukaa was kidnapped on September 23, 2023, a day before his kinsman and the state Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Mathew Abo, was kidnapped. They were both kidnapped at Zaki Biam, in Ukum LGA. But while the commissioner, Abo, was rescued 10 days later, Erukaa was not.
After the ex chairman was abducted, a family member identified as BenJones Erukaa was also lured to the kidnappers den on the pretext of negotiating with the family for payment of a ransom. He was also abducted and kept into custody with the former chairman. It was learnt that BenJones was freed on October 20, but Pa Erukaa was still kept in custody by the kidnappers for reasons best known to them.
When contacted on the news of his death yesterday morning, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Benue State, SP Catherine Anene, said she did not have the information yet. However, a member of the Erukaa family, who didn’t want to be named, said the deceased’s lifeless body was found somewhere within Zaki-Biam town, the headquarters of Ukum LGA, on Sunday.
Washima Erukaa was the father of a renowned broadcaster, with Channels TV, Charles Erukaa.
The source, who debunked reports that the kidnappers may have killed the former council chairman, said from what the family gathered, Erukaa died in his sleep. It was said that when his abductors found out that the former council boss had died, they dropped his lifeless body in a vicinity where he would easily be found.
The source said: “That’s how it ended; the kidnap saga. And I think probably that’s the kind of death that God reserved for him. So that’s how it ended. For some of us, after the third week we lost hope, but we were still praying because we knew that there is nothing God cannot do.
“We believe the conditions that he was kept in captivity were conditions that would not make for his survival. Based on what we learnt from hearsay, he slept and didn’t wake up. They (abductors) had no reason to kill him. It’s not as if they made demands that we didn’t meet up with. We paid them ransom like four times,” the source said.