Reported by: Ijeoma G | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
Despite holding a high-level position in the Presidency, former Special Adviser on Political Matters to Vice President Kashim Shettima, Dr. Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, has revealed that his nephew and three others spent 37 days in captivity, and that his family spent close to N175 million to secure their release after official security channels failed to act on intelligence he provided.
Baba-Ahmed made the revelation during an interview on Trust TV’s Politics Today, parts of which have since circulated widely on social media, according to multiple reports published on June 18, 2026. The former presidential aide said his nephew, Ismail Sahabi, the son of his late sister, was kidnapped alongside three other persons while returning from a farm near Kaduna on the road to Kachia. The victims had lodged in a village facility for the night when armed bandits struck. “They went to a farm they had hired and they used to go there and farm things. They were kidnapped just a few miles after Kaduna on the way to Kachia,” Baba-Ahmed recounted. “They put up in this maybe house, maybe hotel in the village. In the night, bandits came. One of them tried to run away. They followed him, shot him dead, dragged his body back so that the other three can see what will happen if the other three try to run away.”
The remaining captives were taken into a forest, where they spent 36 to 37 days in captivity, according to the reports. “They were taken just a few kilometres into the bush and they spent 36 days there,” he said.
Baba-Ahmed, who was serving in the Presidency at the time of the abduction, said he explored every possible avenue to secure their rescue through official channels but those efforts yielded little result. “At that time, I was the Special Adviser to the President. I was working in the Villa. There was hardly anybody I didn’t speak to,” he said. He explained that family members remained in daily contact with both the kidnappers and the victims throughout the period of captivity. “For those 37 days, every single day, we spoke with the bandits and we spoke with our nephew and the two other people. Every day we conversed. Every day they would tell us their condition. We would negotiate,” he told Trust TV.
The kidnappers had detailed information about their victims and their families, knowing exactly who they had taken. “The very day they picked him up, they said, 'You are Ismail Sahabi? Your uncle is a Special Adviser to the President. He lives in the Villa. He's a big man. He works in the Villa, so we're going to get a lot of money',” Baba-Ahmed said.
The former presidential aide disclosed that the kidnappers initially demanded N25 million alongside motorcycles, drugs, rice and other supplies. “First time they said give us N25 million. We thought okay. We looked around for N25 million and they wanted three motorcycles and a lot of drugs, medication, rice and all sorts of things, and we sent it to them,” he said. Despite providing security agencies with the coordinates of the kidnappers' location, Baba-Ahmed said no rescue operation materialised. “People say, 'Give us the coordinates'. And it was easy to get the coordinates. Yes, we gave them all the coordinates,” he added.
By the time the captives were freed, the family had spent nearly N175 million. “We spent all in all, between the first day they were kidnapped and when they were released, close to N175 million,” Baba-Ahmed stated. He provided a breakdown, saying about N120 million was paid directly in cash through three separate deliveries. “This N175 million was made up of about N120 million in cash in three batches. People took the money. We sent people to them and they gave us directions,” he explained.
Baba-Ahmed's nephew returned home severely malnourished and injured, according to a separate report by The Moment. The victim reportedly described the abductors as mere custodians, alleging that ransom proceeds were collected nightly by higher-ranking figures operating within an organised chain. Baba-Ahmed warned that kidnapping in Nigeria has evolved into a highly coordinated criminal enterprise with access to intelligence, weapons, and local networks, adding that many victims and their families are often left to navigate the ordeal on their own.
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