Gunmen on the rampage on Saturday and Sunday have reportedly abducted no fewer than eight persons, including churchgoers at Atamka, in Owukpa community, in the Ogbadibo Local Government Area of Benue State.
PUNCH Metro gathered that the suspects, during the operation, ambushed people returning from church along Atamka/Ugbudu Road.
Confirming the development in a chat with one of our correspondents, a former Chairman of the LGA, Samuel Onu, said the victims included a security man who was abducted on Saturday, adding that the other seven victims were abducted on Sunday while returning from church.
He said, “The first incident was on Saturday when a security guard was abducted at Atamka. On Sunday, some people who were on Okada and returning from church were ambushed at the same place and taken away by the kidnappers.
“The people waylaid eight people but they discovered that one of their victims had a bad leg and could not walk normally, so they left him. So, in total, seven people were abducted on Sunday.”
The state Police Public Relations Officer, Catherine Anene, when contacted, said she was yet to get the report.
Meanwhile, gunmen reportedly abducted a yet-to-be-identified couple along Osogbo-Iragbiji Road in Osun State.
The victims were said to have been abducted in the early hours of Saturday while travelling on a motorcycle.
A resident of a community along the road, identified simply as Sanya, while speaking to our correspondent, said gunmen kidnapped the couple around 4am on Saturday, adding that the victims were believed to be returning from a vigil when they were abducted.
He said motorcyclists conveying the victims’ home ran into a log of wood the gunmen used in blocking the road because it was still dark.
Contacted on Monday, the spokesperson for the Osun State Police Command, Yemisi Opalola, said the command had commenced a search and rescue operation to free the victims.
“The abduction was reported and we are working very hard to rescue the couple. Operatives are combing the bush in the area and we want to assure the public that the victims will be rescued and the perpetrators of the crime will not escape justice,” she said.
