Dr. Umar Ardo, a chieftain of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Nigeria, rescued his kidnapped daughter by paying a $15,000 (N5.4 million) ransom in Bitcoin to her kidnappers. This is one of the first times that such a case has been reported in which the kidnappers have demanded the ransom in Bitcoin(BTC)trade.
Last week on Saturday, the 24-year-old Aisha Ardo, the daughter of Umar Ardo, was kidnapped at gunpoint at a shopping mall in Asokoro, Abuja, Nigeria. On Sunday, the chieftain was contacted by one of the kidnappers who demanded a $1,500 ransom in the form of Bitcoin. His daughter would be returned safely only if he would pay the demanded amount.
The chieftain told the Daily Trust, a local news outletm that the kidnappers had threatened him that he would never see his daughter alive if he would refuse to pay $15,000 ransom in form of Bitcoin, the popular and largest cryptocurrency.
Ardo recounted to the Daily Trust:
“The caller then said, ‘Dr, I see you are a gentleman, and I am also a gentleman. I give you these two promises; we will not touch your daughter.’
I then asked what would you want me to do in order to get back my daughter?
He said you are going to pay us $15,000. If you cooperate with us your daughter would return to you but if you don’t cooperate with us you will never see her again alive.”
Ardo said he had never used Bitcoin before and needed help to pay the demanded ransom in Bitcoin as the kidnappers had forced him to do so. The caller later sent him the wallet address to which he would send Bitcoin.
“Thank God I had the money in my domiciliary account. I got somebody who paid the money through the wallet account,” he said. Later, they sent the ransom to the provided Bitcoin wallet address and texted him the proof of payment within an hour.
Thanking the people of Nigeria for their support he said:
“I’m glad to inform all and sundry that my daughter, Ai’sha, has been released by her abductors. I collected her somewhere around Gwarimpa where they dumped her by the roadside. She is safe and sound. I thank you and all Nigerians for the support given to me during these trying hours. I appreciate it.”
The daugher was released late on Sunday, September 15, in the district of Gwarimpa after the kidnappers received the cryptocurrency ransom from her father.
Aisha was one of the five individuals who have been kidnapped in Abuja last weekend. Till now, 34 people have been kidnapped in Abuja city since the beginning of the year.
