Delta Varsity Staffer Kidnapped By Suspected Fulani Herdsmen

Omon-Julius Onabu in Asaba

Suspected Fulani herdsmen have reportedly abducted Mr John Ogeleke, a non-academic member of staff of the Delta State University (DELSU), Abraka.

He was said to have been abducted by a group of Fulani men on Thursday at Kwale, the administrative headquarters of Ndokwa West Local Government Area of the state.

Bands of Fulani are found in numerous communities across Delta State, most of them nomadic cattle rearers and cattle marketers, but some of them have been involved in different acts of criminality including kidnapping, robbery, rape and murder.

Delta State Police Command spokeswoman, Mrs Celestina Kalu (DSP), confirmed the incident, saying Ogeleke was abducted at gunpoint while travelling in his Nissan Pathfinder jeep towards Ogume town from Kwale.

Information available to the police said that four Fulani men allegedly ambushed the DELSU staff armed with guns, knives and sticks, she disclosed.

The gang of kidnappers was said to have emerged from the bush along Ogume road, forcing the vehicle to stop before seizing 54-year old Ogeleke and whisking him away into the bush.

The search for the abducted man was already in progress, the police assured.

According to Kalu, a combined team of security operatives including police from Kwale division and men of Dragon 25 police special patrol squads were being assisted by local vigilance members and reinforcement from police divisions around Kwale.

Moreover, other measures being taken in the effort to secure the release of the victim include establishment of contact with the Fulani leader in Kwale, Alhaji Mudi, soliciting his assistance “in the search as several Fulani camps are located therein.”

It would be recalled that the late monarch of Delta State community of Ubulu-Uku was kidnapped in similar fashion on the Ubulu-Uku to Igbodo Road early on January 5, 2016 by a gang of Fulani young men numbering about seven.

The remains of the traditional ruler, Edward Akaeze Ofulue III, the Obi of Aibueku-Uku, was eventually discovered in a bush near Umunede more than two weeks later.