(Vanguard) Abductors of Sheik Adams Idoko, the Chief Imam, University of Nigeria, Nsukka Central Mosque have demanded N20m ransom as a condition for the release of the Muslim leader in Nsukka,
The Chief Imam was kidnapped last Thursday at Ogurite headquarters of Igboeze-north local government Area in the state while attending a meeting of Muslim faithful in the locality.
A source from the Central Mosque who pleaded anonymity told vanguard that the kidnappers has finally opened up discussions in the late hours of last Monday having held the Imam captive for five days without offering a word which sent shivers to the Muslim community in the University town of Nsukka, demanding N20m before they could free the Sheik.
The anonymous noted that UNN central mosque does not have that kind of money the kidnappers were demanding, they ought to know that the Sheik is not a politician nor business tycoon but only a messenger of Allah.
“Up till now, it surprises the community how the Imam who devoted himself to the work of Allah was a target for kidnap. If the central mosque has that kind of money, we would have finished the mosque project embarked upon four years ago,” the source said.
He said that the little work going on in the mosque was what the Muslim faithfuls tasked themselves, adding that even the NYSC corps members contributes the little stipend being paid to them to the building project.
He explained that the new additional blocks on the building was as result of those contributions, adding that the kidnappers suspected that money have rolled in to the mosque and went after the Imam to be paid ransom for his release.
Musa Mohammed, a Muslim faithful described the N20m ransom demanded by the kidnappers as unfortunate and outrageous, questioning what crime had the Imam committed for N20m to be paid before he could regain his freedom..
Mohammed pleaded with the kidnappers to release the Chief Imam unconditionally as he is only a messenger in the vineyard of Allah, pointing out that there was no way the central mosque could afford the N20m demanded as ransom.
Meanwhile, Enugu state police public relations officer DSP Ebere Amarizu confirmed the kidnap of the Imam, saying that investigations has since commenced to unearth the circumstances surrounding the kidnap of the UNN central mosque Chief Imam Sheik Adams Idoko.
