Women Protest Abduction of 18 Residents in Benue

Several women from the Tyomu community in Makurdi Local Government Area of Benue State on Tuesday thronged the Makurdi-Gboko Highway to protest the abduction of 18 people from their community.

The women were reported to have blocked the highway, calling on the state government to secure the release of their community members.

Among the 18 people reportedly abducted, eight were women.

They were reportedly kidnapped on Friday along the Adoka-Ankpa Road while travelling to Kogi State for a burial.

One of the protesters, who simply identified herself as Doshima, said, “Last Friday, some residents of this community hired a vehicle to attend a burial ceremony in Kogi State, but the vehicle they were travelling in was attacked and all the 18 passengers, including eight women, were abducted.

“The abductors have called relatives of some of the victims and demanded N30 million, while the residents have raised and paid N3 million, but the victims are yet to be released.”

When contacted, the Security Adviser to the governor on Internal Affairs, Joseph Har, confirmed the incident but said the actual number of people kidnapped was unknown, adding that the incident had been reported to the relevant security agencies, which he said were already working on it.

He said, “I got the report of the kidnapping incident, but I am yet to know the exact number of people involved.

“First of all, travelling to Kogi State at night is a concern. People would be travelling to Kogi State in the night, especially when everybody is aware of how dangerous the situation along that route is. So, this is not correct; we shouldn’t be putting people under pressure.

“We located the place. The DPO of Adoka and the security guards in surrounding areas are working tirelessly to see how they can get to the location.

“The worst thing about kidnapping is that the location from which the kidnappers make their calls is usually different from where the victims are actually being kept. So, it is not as straightforward as people may think.

“It is therefore a challenge for security agencies to navigate and identify the exact location. It is not as easy as people think.

“You cannot just storm a location because, if there is collateral damage, if you want to chase the people the way they want us to chase them, while trying to rescue the victims, you may end up hurting them.

“That is why we are always careful when handling these matters. We are working on this particular case, and I do not hide information from the families of the victims. I keep them informed about how far we have gone, where we are and what the next steps are.

“However, I understand that the families later went to the road and started blocking it.”

Also speaking, the State Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Solomon Iorpev, accused the transport company that conveyed the victims of not reporting the incident to security agencies.

Iorpev said the information he received from the state Commissioner of Police, Cletus Nwadiogbu, was that the police got to know of the incident through Tuesday’s protest.

The Information Commissioner said, “The position of the Commissioner of Police is that the company did not report the incident to the police. Ordinarily, if something like this happens, the company should immediately inform the relevant security agencies.

“It was the protest by the affected people that eventually brought the matter to the attention of the Commissioner of Police.

“The Commissioner of Police is out now to liaise with the transport company and the families of the affected persons to see how they can begin the tracing of the kidnapped victims.”

Iorpev advised transport companies to always notify the security agencies and the families of people involved for prompt response.

“Now, the families are protesting and calling on the government to intervene, but the proper official channel for reporting such an incident would have been the police, particularly the Commissioner of Police.

“I have not even been informed about the incident, and that is very unfortunate. We regret what happened,” Iorpev said.

The Information Commissioner expressed the assurance of the Commissioner of Police to lead his team to see what could be done to resolve the matter in the shortest possible time.

“So we are calling for calm, the government will do something as soon as possible,” the Information Commissioner said.

Also, the state command spokesperson, Peter Aondongu, told our correspondent in a telephone interview on Tuesday that the command did not receive any formal report about the kidnapping, but that its operatives on patrol along the route at the weekend sighted an abandoned vehicle and suspected that its occupants might have been taken away.

He said the police could not confirm the number of victims abducted until the details of the incident were made available to the command.

Aondongu, however, said that the police had calmed the situation at Tyomu and cleared the road, allowing motorists and other road users to move freely, adding that businesses had resumed in the area.

He appealed to the protesting community for patience as security operatives work to rescue the victims.