Military Officer’s Wife, 15 Others Abducted in Kaduna

  Retired top civil servant abducted in Ekiti

John Shiklam in Kaduna and Victor Ogunje in Ado Ekiti

Sixteen people, including the wife of an army officer have been abducted by terrorists in multiple attacks on communities in Kaduna state.

The wife of the army officer and the six others were said to have  been abducted at about 11pm Tuesday when the terrorists attacked Keke ‘A’ and Keke “B” areas of New Millennium City, in Kaduna metropolis.

Also, a retired Chief Pharmacist with the Ekiti Ministry of Health, Mr. Israel Bamisaye, has been  abducted by suspected kidnappers.

Residents said the attacks  in Kaduna started at about 11pm and lasted for about an hour before security operatives arrived.

The wife of the army officer and two others were abducted during the  attack on Keke ‘A’, while four others, a couple and their two house helps were abducted in Keke ‘B’.

One of the residents said: “It appears the main target of the kidnappers was a big house at Keke A, belonging to an army officer. The bandits came around 11pm. I think their main target was a house at Keke A. The house belongs to  an army officer. But the officer was not at home. So, the kidnappers broke into the house and picked his wife. They also kidnapped another man who is the immediate neighbour of the army officer.

“The neighbour was picked alongside his eight-year old daughter, but they eventually dropped the daughter when her mother was shouting.

“At that point, they started shooting sporadically to scare away anyone who might think of coming to their aid.

“While all that was happening, another man who was just returning home in his car at that time ran into the kidnappers. He was the third person that was taken away from our area.”

At Keke ‘B’, a resident confirmed that, a man, his wife and their two house-helps were abducted.

In yet in other attacks on Gwando community, Kajuru LGA and Ligari community in Chikun LGA of the state, nine people abducted.

The terrorists were said to have attacked Gwando at about 7pm on Monday and abducted five people.

The attack on Ligari was said to have occurred in the early hours of Tuesday leading to the abduction of the wife of the village head, his brother and two others.

Sources said: “Many rural communities in the state are now at the mercy of the terrorists who invade the villages at will and abduct or kill people, adding that  farmers cannot go to their farms for fear of either being killed or abducted.

Meanwhile, a retired Chief Pharmacist with the Ekiti Ministry of Health, Mr Israel Bamisaye, has been kidnapped by suspected abductors.

Bamisaye was said to have been kidnapped by seven gun-wielding men along his farm located between Ero Dam and the Ekiti State farm settlement located at Orin Ekiti, Ido/Odi Local Government Area of Ekiti State

A source told journalists via telephone conversation that the retiree was kidnapped around 4pm while working on his farm.

The development was said to have ignited tension and panic in the town, with residents trooping out to raise doubt about their safety.

The source said: “The seven gunmen had earlier attacked one man identified as Ojo within the vicinity of the farm where Bamisaye was kidnapped.

“The man was asked about the whereabouts of the white men working at the farm settlement, but he replied that he didn’t know where they were.

“They ordered him to lie face down. They ransacked his car that was parked nearby and took away a sum of N4,500 they found inside the vehicle.

“They fired a shot and terrified the environment before they later found the victim and whisked him away”.

The Police Public Relations Officer,Ekiti Command, DSP Sunday Abutu, could not be reached to confirm the incident.

Several calls made to him were neither picked not replied.

But the Commander , Ekiti State Amotekun Corps, Brig Gen Joe Akomolafe, confirmed the incident.

Akomolafe  said: “We are aware of the kidnapping and my men are really working on it”.