Father of Charles Erukaa, a popular television presenter and on-air-personality with Channels TV has died in the den of kidnappers in Benue State.
Charles’ father, Washima Erukaa was 80 years, and was also the former Chairman of Ukum Local Government Area of Benue State. The Erukaa family had paid ransom for his release four times to the kidnappers, yet he wasn’t released.
Late Erukaa was kidnapped on Saturday, 23 September, 2023 in Zaki Biam, headquarters of the local government but he died after staying with the abductors for over a month.
Pa Erukaa was kidnapped a day before the state Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Mathew Abo, was kidnapped. They were both kidnapped at Zaki Biam, in Ukum LGA. But while Abo was rescued 10 days later, Pa Erukaa was not.
After Pa Erukaa’s kidnap, a family member identified as BenJones Erukaa was also lured to the kidnappers den on the pretext of negotiating with the family for payment of a ransom. He was also abducted and kept in custody with the octogenarian. It was learnt that BenJones was freed on October 20, but Pa Erukaa was kept in custody by his abductors.
Though Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Benue State, SP Catherine Anene, said she did not have the information yet, a member of the Erukaa family who didn’t want to be named said the deceased’s body was found somewhere within Zaki-Biam town, the headquarters of Ukum LGA, on Sunday.
The source, who debunked reports that the kidnappers may have killed the former council chairman, said from what the family gathered, Erukaa died in his sleep. It was said that when his abductors found out that the former council boss had died, they dropped his corpse in a vicinity where it would easily be found.
The source said: “That’s how it ended; the kidnap saga. And I think probably that’s the kind of death that God reserved for him. So that’s how it ended. For some of us, after the third week, we lost hope, but we were still praying because we knew that there is nothing God cannot do.
“We believe the conditions that he was kept in captivity were conditions that would not make for his survival. Based on what we learnt from hearsay, he slept and didn’t wake up. They (abductors) had no reason to kill him. It’s not as if they made demands that we didn’t meet up with. We paid them ransom like four times,” the source said.
