Barely two days after the Niger State House of Assembly raised the alarm over the occupation of a military training camp at the Nagwamase military cantonment in Kontagora, a top military officer serving in the cantonment has been abducted by gunmen.
The military officer, according to a reliable source was abducted on Wednesday from his farm around the bush where the bandits are said to be occupying for weeks.
Recalled that, a member of the state House of Assembly, representing Kontagora 11, Hon. Abdullahi Isah had on Tuesday on the floor of the House disclosed that the terrorists had taken over the military training camp in Kontagora and that 23 communities within the training camp have been forced to abandon their homes.
This was as the Nigerian Army through the Director of Public Relations, Major General Onyema Nwachukwu on Wednesday refuted the claims and described it as “untrue and calculated to incite unnecessary panic in the neighbourhood”.
However, a very reliable source told newsmen that the abductors of the military officer had demanded N50 million ransom for his release.
The bandits also abducted nine people from Masaha in Madera ward, one of the 23 communities that have been sacked due to the activities of the gunmen.
It was gathered that three out of the nine men who were picked from their farms were killed by their abductors midway into their journey and their bodies abandoned in the bush.
Confirming the attacks, Ibrahim Enagi, eldest son of one of the victims, the late Alhaji Alhassan Usman Enagi, told our Correspondent that his late father was abducted on his way back from the farm.
According to him, “My father was shot by the bandits after he complained that he was tired and could not continue the journey. Three of them were killed and their bodies were abandoned in the bush.
“it was those who managed to escape from the bandits that came to tell us that my father and two other persons were killed because they complained of tiredness during their journey in the bush”.
Meanwhile, the bandits said to be numbering well over 50 were said to have blocked the Minna-Kontagora highway on Thursday, leaving motorists and commuters scrambling for their lives.
According to our source, the bandits blocked the highway about 15 kilometres from Kontagora and operated for over one hour.
As of the time of filing this report, details of their (Bandits) operation are yet unknown and no response by the military.
