Wife of Kaduna State Governor, Hajia Asia el-Rufai, has said that Nigerians must sacrifice to end banditry and kidnapping, saying that, no ransom should be paid to her abductors if she is kidnapped.
The Governor’s wife made the remarks in Kaduna on Wednesday while addressing participants of a peace and security training, organized for Kaduna women by Equal Access International (EAI).
The training according to the EAI’s Country Director, Maaji Peters was aimed at securing Nigerian communities through creation of Civilian Security, CIVSEC, who will make contributions and decisions on issues that affects them and their communities.
el-Rufai’s wife who was the Guest of Honour at the event said that, Nigerians must get back their once peaceful country and women have a great role to play in achieving that.
Mrs el-Rufai, who emphasized that ransom should not be paid if she was kidnapped, added that, “we must sacrifice to bring this to an end. I am ready to die in the hands of kidnappers if it will bring peace to this country.
“For as long as you continue to pay ransom, it is like you are adding kerosene to fire. you are giving bandits, kidnappers money for ammunition to continue to hunt you. We should not pay ransom. this is my personal opinion.
“I have said it before and I will say it again, if I am kidnapped , don’t pay any ransom. rather pray for me that if it is death, I go in a good way and if I am going to be released that I am not violated.
“As long as we are giving them the money and they hurt people around, they will not change. Collectively as a country , we have to say no, we can not continue to give them our hard earned money to buy weapons and drugs to kill and maim our children. If we don’t put a stop to this, they will destroy us all. They will even kidnap the person that takes the ransom to them.
“You will see that some of them you even give the ransom and they still kill the person, so you have lost twice,” she said.
Speaking on communal clashes witnessed in parts of Kaduna State, Hajia Asia el-Rufai told the women drawn from Chikun, Kajuru and Jama’a local government areas to shun divisive narratives created by selfish politicians and work for the unity of the state.
Recall that her husband, Governor el-Rufai has been strongly against payment of ransom to kidnappers. He was even reported to have said if his son was kidnapped he would only pray for him to be released, otherwise they would meet in heaven.
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