I am Adewunmi. Samuel Sofomade, the band’s leader from Abuja, has come out to reveal the sum that was paid to get them released from captivity on the Lokoja highway.
According to MISMOB, the band leader and his crew were kidnapped in December 2023 on their way back from a performance in Kogi State.
After only a few days in captivity, the group of thirteen men was eventually released.
But the band leader, whose stage name is Omoba De Jombo Beats, recently spoke about his trauma in an interview with BBC Yoruba, where he said that the kidnappers eventually dropped the demand to N7 million per person before releasing them.
Thirteen of us traveled to Itakete Isao, near Isan-Olu in Kogi State, to play at a funeral. Since Kogi does not have an airport, we were forced to travel by road.
“We left on Thursday. On Friday, our performance came to a close at approximately 5:30 p.m. Because of this, we decided to go back to Abuja as soon as possible. We had just passed Dangote Cement when the tragedy occurred.
The six days we spent in the dense jungle with the kidnappers felt like six years since so much transpired there.
“Each of them wanted N10 million. The fact that we were unable to raise N10 million prompted us to begin pleading with their commandant. In the end, he settled on N7 million per person.
In December, we began searching for funds after learning that the money had been fulfilled but that there was a shortage. Even though they had first consented to have the funds converted to dollars, their leader eventually changed his mind and insisted on keeping the naira.
Mismob Media