LAGOS MARCH 8TH (NEWSRNAGERS)-Nigeria Women’s Football League player, Ihotu John, has regained her freedom after being kidnapped along the Benin Expressway last Friday, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.
Ihotu’s relative, Blessing Ojima, confirmed that the player was released on Thursday after her family paid a ransom of N1.5m to her abductors.
According to Ojima, the kidnappers initially demanded N20m for her release before reducing it to N10m, eventually accepting the family’s final offer.
“We sent money to them on Wednesday, and we received a call from her on Thursday that she had been released. We paid them N1.5m,” she told PUNCH Sports Extra.
Asked how the family delivered the money to the kidnappers, Ojima explained that it was transferred through the relative of another victim who was also in captivity.
“There was another victim with them, a girl, so they sent the account number of the girl’s father to us, and we paid it. The man also called me because they gave my number to him,” she said.
She added that the kidnappers used the other victim’s phone to communicate with the family.
“When they first called us, they hid their number, but later they started using the phone of the other victim to reach us. They spoke to me on Tuesday and told me they would send the account number of the girl’s father. They also gave the man my number.”
PUNCH Sports Extra also gathered that part of the ransom was raised by players in the NWFL.
Ihotu, who last featured for Pacesetter Queens FC in the NWFL Premiership, was released by the club last Thursday following the end of the first half of the season, which signals the opening of a new transfer window.
She was reportedly on her way home when the incident occurred.
Our correspondent gathered that Ihotu had left Ibadan last Friday after informing her mother about her disengagement from the club. She boarded a vehicle at a popular motor park in Ibadan en route to Asaba, where she intended to stay with a relative before proceeding to her home state of Benue.
Her former club, Pacesetter Queens, confirmed her abduction on Tuesday.
In a statement obtained by our correspondent, the club clarified that the player was no longer on their books but expressed solidarity with her and her family.
“Rebecca, alongside several other players, was officially released during the most recent transfer window of the Nigeria Women’s Football League Championship,” the club said.
“However, beyond contracts and registrations are human lives, and that is where our deepest concern lies.
“We stand in solidarity with Rebecca’s family during this trying time and urge the public to remain supportive as efforts continue. Our thoughts, prayers, and unwavering concern are with her, and we remain committed to seeing her safely reunited with her loved ones.”
Punch
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