The criminal elements who killed a senior lecturer, Dr. Tiri Gyan David, have ordered his grieving widow to pay a ransom of ₦300 million for the release of their two abducted children.

The widow’s husband, who was the Head of the Department of Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural Development, at the Federal University Dutsinma (FUDMA), was gunned down last week by bandits who abducted two of his children in Katsina State, northwest Nigeria.

The incident occurred in the early hours of Tuesday at his residence in Yarima Quarters, Low-Cost Estate, in the Dutsinma Local Government Area of the state.

However, a friend of the family told SaharaReporters on Sunday that the terrorists contacted the lecturer’s widow and demanded the sum of ₦300 million to free her abducted boys.

The source said the terrorists called Dr. David’s widow in the early hours of Sunday, and his younger brother answered the call.

“They demanded N300 million and his widow replied in the background telling them that ‘you’ve killed the person who may have probably been able to get something for you guys,” the source said.

“I’m a widow and not a working-class type, how do you expect me to raise that kind of ransom?” she was quoted to have asked.

It was gathered that after hearing her voice, the terrorist on the phone asked, “Are you the woman whose two boys are here with us?”

According to the source, they ended the call and promptly switched off their phone, cutting off all further communication.