Gunmen Abduct NIS Officer
Gunmen suspected to be kidnappers have abducted a Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) officer, Simon Agbo, from his residence in Makurdi, the Benue State capital.
A family member, who spoke with journalists on Monday, recounted that the attackers arrived suddenly, fired sporadic gunshots into the air to cause panic, and then seized the officer at gunpoint.
The incident was said to have occurred around 7:15pm on Sunday evening, according to family sources.
It was noted that they dragged him away to an unknown destination, leaving other people at the scene unharmed.
Agbo, who was recently redeployed from Kwara State to the Benue Command in February, was reportedly relaxing with neighbours when the assailants stormed the area.
The kidnapping took place opposite NKST Church, Kuan, behind the Modern Market.
It was noted that the family had since been contacted by the kidnappers, who are demanding N20million as ransom for Agbo’s release.
“The neighbour was consistently calling on the victim to come home or he should direct him to his location, as at that time, they needed to see him that fateful Sunday night, by all means,” the victim’s younger brother, who identified himself simply as Agbo, told reporters.
“After persistent calls that my brother should come home or if possible, describe his whereabouts, my brother came home and went straight to his neighbour’s compound.”
It was further revealed that as soon as the gunmen stormed the man’s residence, they fired gunshots sporadically in the air to scare family members and neighbours of the victim before abducting him.
“They went straight to the Immigration officer, picked only him at gunpoint, and left the remaining two behind,” he said.
“The neighbour’s action looks very suspicious, and that is why we called for his arrest. He has been arrested and is currently in police custody until our brother is released.”
Following the abduction, members of the community and local vigilantes organised an overnight search for the kidnappers, but the effort did not yield any results.
There have been series of insecurities reported in Benue State, with deaths, kidnappings and destruction of properties recorded.
The federal and state government have promised overtime to put an end to the spiralling insecurity, although it has continually failed to.
