Dr. Mansur Muhammad, the abducted Chief Medical Director of Dansadau General Hospital in Zamfara State, and two other health workers kidnapped in the state have been released.
According to reports, the victims were released by their kidnappers on Friday night after being held captive for seven days.
It was also learned that the bandits refunded the N5 million ransom paid for their release a few hours later.
Muhammad and two other health workers were kidnapped last Saturday along the Gusau-Dansadau highway in Zamfara State’s Maru Local Government Area.
However, Dr. Mannir Bature, Chairman of the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), Zamfara State chapter, confirmed the abductees’ release, saying the victims were released after some cattle herders who were committed to a lasting peace with the farmers in the Dansadau community intervened and secured the release of the health workers.
Bature went on to say that the cattle herders also helped with the refund of the N5 million ransom demanded by the bandits.
According to a reliable source, some cattle herders escorted the ransom bearer, Sama’ila Nagogo, to the delivery location, apprehended the armed bandits, and handed them over to their superiors.
The source said: “The cattle herders asked the bandits to free their victims and return the N5 million ransom which they did.
“The ransom according to him was returned to the owner.”
The source added that the return of the ransom was over the peace truce between the residents of the community, cattle herders, and bandits in the area after years of attacks and counter-attacks between the locals and the gunmen.
“Those abductors are probably not aware of the peace truce entered between the crop farmers and the cattle herders around Dansadau axis,” the source said.
