Gunmen abduct six mourners, abandon corpse on Benue highway

Illustration image of gunmen

Gunmen suspected to be kidnappers have abducted six persons conveying the corpse of a woman to Okpoga, headquarters of the Okpokwu Local Government Area of Benue State.

According to sources, the mourners left Kano on Friday for Okpoga to bury the deceased but were intercepted by the gunmen along the notorious Adoka Road.

The attackers reportedly abducted the six occupants of the vehicle and abandoned the corpse on the road.

A sympathiser who raised the alarm on social media said, “A man from Kano was carrying the dead body of his wife who died in Kano to Okpoga for burial on Friday.

“They left Kano, and they got to Adoka at about 8 pm. The husband of the deceased and five of his friends were in the vehicle when they were kidnapped along Adoka Road.

“The kidnappers abandoned the dead body while they took the six people to the bush, and from Friday till today (Monday), they have yet to be released, while a family member of the victims that I know said that the kidnappers were demanding N15m.”

The sympathiser said men of the Federal Road Safety Corps found the corpse on the road on Saturday and took it to a police station in Adoka, adding that the police later deposited the body in a morgue.

The Chairman of Otukpo Local Government Area, Maxwell Ogiri, who confirmed the incident to journalists in a telephone interview on Monday, said the driver of the vehicle was his friend.

He said, “Yes, it happened. Incidentally, the driver of the vehicle is my friend. This is the unfortunate incident we are seeing. It is really traumatic.

“The kidnappers are demanding N15m. But the security agencies are trying to track the kidnappers. Also, our vigilantes and youths are not resting in ensuring that the kidnapped victims are rescued.”

Also confirming the incident in a telephone interview with journalists on Monday, the state police command spokesperson, DSP Peter Aondongu, said the incident occurred on Friday.

“It’s true, the incident happened on Friday, and our men are making efforts to rescue the victims,” the PPRO said.

The Otukpo-Adoka and Ohimini axes have become notorious for kidnapping in recent times.

On October 16, gunmen abducted a Catholic priest, Rev. Fr. John Otache, and seven others while they were returning from a village market along the Ugbokolo-Ajegbe-Awume Road, before Ipiga Village in the Ohimini Local Government Area of the state.

Also in August, gunmen abducted 14 passengers travelling to Abuja along the Otukpo-Adoka Road.