Reported by: Ijeoma G | Edited by: Pierre Antoine
A family in Edo State has raised fresh alarm over what it describes as an attempt to weaken or derail the prosecution of suspected kidnappers linked to the abduction of a young medical doctor and the killing of his younger brother in Auchi, a case that has already become one of the most disturbing kidnap-for-ransom episodes reported in the state this year. According to the family’s account, the two brothers were abducted from their home on January 2, 2026, and their captors initially demanded ₦200 million before the ransom figure was later reduced during negotiations.
The victims were identified in reports as Dr. Abu Babatunde, a house officer at Edo University Teaching Hospital, Iyamho, and his younger brother, Abu Momoh. PUNCH reported in January that the doctor’s family publicly appealed for financial help after the kidnappers demanded ₦100 million for the release of the brothers, describing the sum as impossible for them to raise alone. The same reporting placed the abduction in Auchi, Edo North, and said the two brothers were taken after returning home from work on January 2.
The case took an even darker turn within days. PUNCH’s archived coverage shows that one of the abducted brothers, Abu Momoh, was later found dead, with the family confirming that the younger brother had been killed while Dr. Babatunde remained in captivity. SaharaReporters’ later account, based on the family’s message, said the body was found in a stream on January 5 in a decomposed state, and the family concluded that he had likely been killed shortly after the abduction.
Despite that loss, the family continued negotiations in a bid to save the surviving victim. SaharaReporters reported that the abducted doctor was eventually released after about two weeks in captivity, and that the family paid around ₦50 million together with other items allegedly requested by the kidnappers. The same report said Dr. Babatunde was shot in the leg while in captivity, an indication of the brutality of the ordeal and the physical toll it took before his release.
What has now pushed the story back into public focus is what happened after the doctor regained freedom. According to SaharaReporters, two suspects were arrested on February 8 after Dr. Babatunde reportedly recognised them at his workplace when they brought their children for treatment. The family said the identification led to the suspects’ arrest and that, during questioning, they allegedly claimed they were acting on the instructions of others, suggesting a wider kidnapping network may be behind the operation.
That detail is particularly striking because it suggests the investigation may have advanced not through police intelligence or a tracking breakthrough, but through the victim’s own recognition of people he believed participated in his abduction. In practical terms, that points to the possibility that the suspects moved openly enough in the community to enter a medical facility with their children despite their alleged involvement in a kidnapping and murder case. That is an inference from the reported facts, but it underscores the family’s fear that the network behind the crime may be embedded locally and may not yet have been fully dismantled.
The family now says that, more than a month after the arrests, they have seen little sign of steady progress toward justice. SaharaReporters said relatives complained of minimal updates from investigators and were told the matter had become a state case, with the implication that they would need legal representation to properly pursue it. According to the family, the legal cost required to engage counsel is about ₦3 million, a figure they say they cannot afford after paying ransom and enduring the financial devastation caused by the abduction.
Their concern is not limited to cost or delay. The more serious allegation is that police officials may be trying to compromise the case. SaharaReporters reported the family’s claim that the suspects have been charged but that the matter was adjourned, and that relatives fear there are moves to secure the suspects’ release. The family also alleged that lawyers had earlier tried unsuccessfully to obtain bail for the suspects from Abuja. Those are allegations from the family and not official police admissions, but they are central to the current controversy.
The suspects, according to the same report, remain in police custody and were moved from Benin City to Auchi. The transfer has not been publicly explained in detail, but for the family it appears to have compounded anxiety about transparency and case management. Without regular official briefings, every adjournment, transfer or procedural delay is being interpreted through a lens of mistrust shaped by the scale of the family’s loss.
Stone Reporters note that this case sits within a wider climate of insecurity in Auchi and Edo North. PUNCH’s Auchi archive shows that kidnapping has been a recurring concern in the area, with repeated reports of abductions, ransom demands and protests over insecurity. In January alone, the abduction of Dr. Babatunde and the killing of his brother triggered strong reactions from the medical community, including protests by doctors in Edo and the suspension of some medical services by the Nigerian Medical Association in response to the attack on health workers.
That broader context matters because it shows the case is not an isolated criminal episode but part of a larger security crisis affecting residents and professionals in the area. PUNCH reported that colleagues and relatives of the abducted doctor had appealed publicly for help raising ransom, reflecting how kidnapping in the region has forced families into desperate public fundraising campaigns just to keep victims alive.
At the centre of the current dispute is a straightforward demand from the family: that the suspects already arrested should be fully prosecuted and that the wider network they allegedly referenced should be pursued. For the relatives, this is no longer only a kidnapping case. It is a murder case, a ransom-extortion case, and now potentially a test of whether criminal prosecutions in high-stakes abduction matters can survive delay, cost and alleged interference. SaharaReporters quoted the family as saying that one life has already been lost and that the family has been left emotionally and financially shattered.
The unresolved question is whether Edo authorities and the police will publicly clarify the status of the prosecution, the exact charges before the court, and whether any internal safeguards are in place to ensure the case is not compromised. Until that happens, the family’s allegations are likely to intensify scrutiny of both the handling of the suspects and the broader credibility of anti-kidnapping enforcement in Edo State.
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