Family Pays N56m Ransom, Receives Corpse: The Tragic Story of Farmer Ibrahim Kadafa

By Our Reporter
Abuja

It was supposed to be a day of joy for Ibrahim Kadafa.

On October 28, the Abuja-based farmer woke up with hope and excitement, set out with a friend to his farm at Alheri Camp, along the Kaduna-Abuja road, to harvest the soybeans he had planted months earlier. After months of labour under the sun, his efforts had finally yielded results.

He never returned home alive.

Ibrahim was kidnapped right on his own farm by armed men, in an attack that has once again exposed the deepening insecurity facing Nigerian farmers and travellers along one of the country’s busiest highways.

According to family sources, the kidnappers initially demanded a ransom of N100 million — an amount the family described as unimaginable — as if they were asking for N100. After days of painful negotiation, the demand was reduced to N80 million.

Desperate to see their loved one alive, the family ran from place to place, borrowing and soliciting help to raise the money. They were eventually able to raise N56 million.

But the kidnappers collected the money knowing, according to the family, that Ibrahim was already dead.

Along with the N56 million, the family said they were also forced to hand over three brand new Samsung phones and N20,000 worth of recharge cards.

Instead of the reunion they had prayed for, they were handed the corpse of Ibrahim.

Family members said Ibrahim had sustained a gunshot wound during his abduction. With no access to medical attention while in captivity in the kidnappers’ den, the wound is believed to have led to his death.

Ibrahim was a hardworking Nigerian trying to earn an honest living and contribute to food production in the country. His death has left his family devastated — grieving a son, husband, father, brother and friend, while also counting the huge financial loss they incurred in a desperate bid to save him.

His story mirrors the fear now gripping many Nigerians who wish to go to the farm but are held back by insecurity. For many, food sustainability remains important, but the fear of kidnapping, attack and death on farms and highways has forced them to stay away.

Insecurity, residents say, has eaten so deep into the fabric of daily life that many Nigerians are now afraid to move from point A to point B, let alone go to remote farms.

As his family mourns, friends and well-wishers have continued to pray for the repose of his soul, asking God to expand his grave and grant his family the strength to bear the irreparable loss.

Ibrahim Kadafa went to his farm to harvest what he sowed. He did not return to eat from his labour.