TheCable

The family of Philip Ataga, a Kaduna-based medical doctor, fell into the hands of the exact calamity he was trying to avert in his community, fresh details have revealed.

Bola Ataga, his wife, was killed by kidnappers a week after she and two of their children were abducted from their residence at Juji, near Sabon Tasha, Chikun local government area of Kaduna.

The kidnappers had reportedly demanded N150 million ransom but when the family could not meet the request, they killed Bola and subsequently demanded N20 million for the release of her children.

Sunday Ogwu, a Facebook user, who said he spoke to Ataga after the incident, wrote on his page that the doctor recently donated a police station to his community to help improve the security situation – after at least three persons were kidnapped in the area late last year.

“The commissioning had the AIG of the zone and the Kaduna State Government officials in attendance, to the delight of the community that has become plagued by constant adoption,” Ogwu wrote.

Yakubu Sabo, spokesman of the Kaduna state police command, confirmed to TheCable that Ataga donated a police station to his community in 2019. Although he could not immediately state the exact period, Sabo said it was in “the last quarter of last year”.

According to Ogwu, the police station is “barely 50 meters” from Ataga’s residence.

“The other reason why it had to process was that, the said police station is located barely 50 meters from Dr Philips residence, where the bandit operated for 3 hours, 10 pm to 1am, unhindered, with sporadic gun shots, until, they succeeded in breaking down the walls, killing the police dogs and reaching for his family,” he said.

“My subsequent engagement with Dr Philip reveals all the effort that were made to reach the police and military high authorities while the operations lasted.

“The bravery of the local vigilante who only bare dane guns was met with superior gun power, which sadly resulted in one of them paying the Supreme price. The public can now understand why the community protest of 25th January received major media publicity, with the locals alleging, police conspiracy.”