EIGHT CHARCOAL WORKERS ABDUCTED IN PLATEAU COMMUNITY

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By: Muftau Fatimo

Gunmen have reportedly kidnapped eight charcoal workers in Nyalun community, located in the Bashar District of Wase Local Government Area, Plateau State.

The media gathered that the incident occurred on Tuesday evening as the victims were returning home after processing charcoal on the outskirts of the community.

A youth leader in Wase, Shapi’i Sambo, confirmed the incident on Wednesday in an interview with the media

He disclosed that the assailants initially abducted 10 occupants of the vehicle but later released two in Garga, Kanam Local Government Area, to deliver a ransom message.

“The victims were returning around 7:30 p.m. when the perpetrators suddenly stopped their vehicle, which was loaded with charcoal, and took them away.

“It is a shocking incident because the victims were struggling to make ends meet when this happened,” the youth leader said.

He identified the abducted victims as Hassan Sa’idu, Shamsudden Abubakar, Usamatu Yakubu, Dayyabu Usman Waziri, Inkilulu Dauda, Ado Sambo, Sule Dahiru, and Umar Amadu.

Sambo added that the kidnappers were suspected to have taken the victims into the Kukawa bush, an area known to serve as a hideout for criminal groups.

One of the two individuals released, Mummuni Musa, revealed that the victims were tied up before he and another person were freed to convey the ransom demand.

“The kidnappers instructed us to return home and inform the vehicle’s owner to sell it in order to raise the ransom for the eight victims,” he said.

Communities within Wase and Kanam Local Government Areas have, in recent years, experienced recurring incidents of kidnapping and banditry.

The latest attack comes barely two weeks after gunmen killed soldiers and vigilantes in Kanam Local Government Area.

Attempts to reach the spokesperson of the Plateau State Police Command, DSP Alabo Alfred, were unsuccessful as of the time of filing this report.