Abducted Covenant varsity student, sister return home

Abducted Sister

BY LAJU ARENYEKA

LAGOS — Exactly nine days after their kidnap, two female students abducted from their home in Karmo, Abuja, have been reunited with their family.

The sisters — Ejura, 23, and Unekwu, 19 — whose father, Dr. Samson Opaluwah, is a Director at the Federal Ministry of Works were said to have arrived home yesterday morning.

The girls were abducted Sunday, June 8, from their home during what began as a robbery incident. Five unidentified gunmen had come to rob their house, but were reportedly dissatisfied with the items and money they had stolen and took the girls away in the booth of their blue Honda car in the hopes of getting a ransom.

The abductors called the next day to demand a ransom of N200 million, which was later reduced to N150 million. A representative of the family had in an earlier report said they could not afford the sum. Other sources said that no ransom was paid eventually.

Speaking to Vanguard, an uncle of the girls, Mr. Amadi Opaluwah, refused to go into the details of the girls’ release, but said the family is glad to have “the trauma behind us. We are very thankful to God that they are back safe and sound. We want to thank everyone who stood by us, including the media for their coverage.”

Ejura is a student of Medicine at an undisclosed South American university, and Unekwu is a student of Economics at Covenant University, Ota.