What began as a routine visit to his farm to supervise the harvesting of soybeans ended in a nightmare for Ibrahim Kadafa, popularly known as Ibro, whose family’s desperate efforts to secure his freedom from kidnappers along the Kaduna-Abuja highway yielded nothing but his lifeless body.
Kadafa, an Abuja-based worker who travelled to his farm around Alheri Camp, Kilometre 30, along the Kaduna-Abuja road, on October 28, 2026, was abducted alongside his friend, Mustapha Shelpidi, while harvesting soybeans.
The two friends were reportedly caught in the hands of armed men who stormed the farm and whisked them away, turning what should have been a productive agricultural outing into the beginning of a painful ordeal for their families.
For the Kadafa family, the days that followed were marked by anxiety, fear and relentless negotiations with the abductors, who initially demanded a ransom of N100 million before reducing it to N80 million.
In a desperate bid to bring their loved one home alive, the family raised and paid N56 million, alongside three brand-new Samsung mobile phones and a recharge card worth N20,000.
The payment, made within two weeks of negotiations, was driven by the hope that Ibrahim would return home safely and reunite with his family after the traumatic experience of captivity.
But the anticipated reunion never came.
A family source lamented that, when they went to receive Ibrahim following the fulfilment of the kidnappers’ demands, they were instead handed his corpse on Wednesday, November 11, 2026.
The family disclosed that Ibrahim had reportedly sustained a gunshot wound to his leg while attempting to escape during the abduction and remained without medical attention throughout his two weeks in captivity.
They suspect that complications arising from the untreated injury may have contributed to his death. However, the exact circumstances surrounding his demise remain unclear as of the time of filing this report.
Ibrahim’s death raises fresh concerns over the safety of farmers, commuters and residents off the Kaduna-Abuja highway, where kidnapping for ransom has continued to disrupt livelihoods and expose communities to grave danger.
The Kaduna-Abuja highway has endured years of kidnappings, armed attacks and ransom-related tragedies, particularly during the peak of banditry between 2019 and 2022.
In August 2019, three final-year law students of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, were among travellers abducted along the highway.
The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) permanent orientation camp, popularly known as Black Gold, located at kilometre 18, Sabon Gaya, on the highway, was also relocated to safer Government College, Kurmi Marshi, inside Kaduna, towards the end of Governor Nasir El-Rufai’s administration.
The corridor’s insecurity was so severe that many travellers increasingly opted for the Abuja-Kaduna train service as an alternative to road transport.
However, the March 28, 2022, train attack near Katari, in which passengers were killed and scores abducted, further deepened fears over movement between the two cities.
Although security operations and patrols have been intensified over the years, the persistence of kidnapping around the highway and adjoining communities continues to raise questions about the safety of people who depend on the corridor for business, farming and other economic activities.
Gonin Gora, Sabon Gaya, Rijana, Katari and Jere remain notable flashpoints, with incidents reaching their peak between 2019 and 2021.