Nigerian gunmen demand US$198,000 to free abducted female judge, children

A Customary Court female judge, Janet Galadima, and her four children have been abducted by gunmen suspected to be terrorists.

SaharaReporters gathered that the incident happened on the night of Sunday, 23 June 2024.

The victims were abducted at their residence in Mahuta, Kaduna State, North-West Nigeria.

The judge’s husband, a medical doctor, was away on duty at the time of the incident, SaharaReporters learned.

According to a series of posts by Twitter user @I_Am_Ilemona on Tuesday, the abductors of Judge Janet Galadima and her children are demanding a ransom of N300 million in exchange for their safe release.

“This phone call I just took broke my heart. The wife & 4 sons of a friend’s friend were kidnapped a few days ago in Kaduna. The kidnappers asked for a N300 million ransom (which he doesn’t have), or they’d kill his children.

“They killed his first son today. My heart is heavy.

“They dropped his boy’s body somewhere and told him to go get his lifeless boy. The boy was 14. They told him it’s a warning. They said they’ll kill the others. The surviving children are 12, 9 & 6,” he wrote.

The incident was confirmed to journalists in a statement signed by the Chief Executive Officer of the House of Justice, Barr. Gloria Mabeiam Ballason Esq, on Wednesday (3 July).

The lawyer noted that the abductors were reportedly about 15 in number.

Ballason explained that they took their captives hostage and demanded a huge sum as ransom, on Tuesday, 2 July 2024.

“Gloria Mabeiam Ballason Esq. has condemned the abduction of a Customary Court Judge, His Worship (HW) Janet Galadima, and her four children as well as the grisly murder of her 14-year-old son by the terrorists,” it stated.

Ballason revealed that the terrorists brutally killed the judge’s 14-year-old son when their ransom demands were not met. Ballason vehemently denounced the heinous abduction and murder, emphasising that judicial officers, as stipulated in Article 7 of the UN Basic Principles on the Independence of the Judiciary, have the right to protection and adequate security to perform their duties without fear or intimidation.

The lawyer added that the Nigerian State has a Constitutional mandate under Section 33 and 14 (2)b of the 1999 Constitution to guarantee and ensure the safety of the Judge, her family and all citizens.

According to the statement, Ballason described the murder of Victor, the 14-year-old son of the judge, as ‘grisly and blood curdling’, stating that no parent deserved the horror of watching their child be killed in such cold, callous manner.

Ballason called on the Nigerian security agencies, Governor of Kaduna state, Nigerian Bar Association and the Judiciary to rise to the urgency of the moment for the protection of lives of His Worship, Janet Galadima and her children, and to ensure justice is served.

Meanwhile, ASP Mansir Hassan, the spokesperson for the Kaduna State Police Command, confirmed the incident to SaharaReporters on Wednesday evening, stating that the police have escalated their efforts to rescue the abducted family members.

“We are trying our best to rescue the victims,” he said.