Gurara TV CEO Receives K!dnap, D£ath Threats Day After ∆bduction Of Brother-In-Law’s Children In Kaduna

 

Gurara TV CEO Receives Kidnap, Death Threats Day After Abduction Of Brother-In-Law’s Children In Kaduna

The media executive said the threats were delivered through text messages from an unidentified number, with the sender demanding ₦2 million and warning him to “play safe.”

The Chief Executive Officer of Gurara TV, Comrade Ernest Thyek Maidawa, has received threats of kidnapping and death, barely 24 hours after the abduction of two children of his brother-in-law by armed men in Rimi Village, Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

The media executive said the threats were delivered through text messages from an unidentified number, with the sender demanding ₦2 million and warning him to “play safe.”

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In one of the messages seen by SaharaReporters, the sender claimed that three people had been contracted to kidnap the Gurara TV CEO and alleged that the payment of the demanded money would enable them to disclose the identity of the person behind the planned attack.

The sender also warned the media executive against reporting the matter to security agencies.

“Report to anywhere walahi we must kill you,” another message read, adding, “We have been nice to you.”

The messages reportedly came after SaharaReporters and Gurara TV published a report on the abduction of the CEO’s brother-in-law’s children.

Speaking on the development, Maidawa said he suspected that the person behind the messages might have obtained his contact details from the organisation’s social media platforms.

“You know, yesterday, when we published the kidnapping incident on Gurara TV, I don’t know where they got my number,” he said while narrating the development to SaharaReporters on Tuesday evening.

 

“As a matter of fact, the communication I’ve been having with them is that somebody had contacted them to kidnap me, that I should give them N2 million so that they can reveal the identities of those who sent them.”

According to him, the alleged callers have shown no knowledge of the earlier abduction and have instead focused on demanding money from him.

He said, “I told them that my brother-in-law’s children have just been kidnapped. They are not even telling me anything about the children who have been kidnapped; they are only saying that I should send them money so that they can reveal the identities of those who have asked them to kidnap me.”

The media executive said he believed the threats could be an attempt to defraud him, stressing that there appeared to be no connection between the people threatening him and those who abducted his relatives.

“There’s no relationship between those who kidnapped my in-laws and this one. That is just what I believe. I get to understand that this is a scam,” he said.

He, however, said he was taking the threats seriously and had reported the matter to security agencies.

“I have sent this number to the DPO, Sabon Police Station, here in Kaduna. I have also sent it to the DSS, and the PPRO,” he said.

The CEO said he had also taken precautionary measures to ensure the safety of his family.

When contacted by SaharaReporters on the number used to send the threats, 0808 238 7656, the person who answered the call claimed to be a medical doctor who had previously been kidnapped.

He also claimed responsibility for sending the messages, saying he had been instructed to send them to only two people.

The person told SaharaReporters that the alleged kidnappers did not understand English and suggested that someone who speaks Hausa be contacted to communicate with them.

The development came less than a day after armed men reportedly invaded Rimi Village at night and abducted two children of the Gurara TV CEO’s brother-in-law.

The children’s father, an Air Force officer, had earlier narrated how the attackers broke through fences and entered the neighbourhood before abducting his wife and two children.

According to him, the attackers later released his wife but took the two children into the surrounding bush.

The reported abduction has heightened concerns over the safety of residents in vulnerable communities in Kaduna State, where kidnapping and banditry remain persistent security challenges.

Gurara TV urged members of the public to remain vigilant and promptly report credible security threats to the appropriate authorities.