Gunmen Hit Taraba; Kidnap 16, Including Monarch, 2 Police Officers

Armed men attacked the Taraba community on Tuesday and kidnapped 16 people, including a traditional ruler, a pregnant woman and two police officers.

Dabang Major, a resident who escaped the attack, revealed that the gunmen came on motorcycles in the early hours of Tuesday and opened fire. They raided several houses and kidnapped Alhaji Alhaji Umaru Abubakar Nyala, the second-class chief of Pupule, and others.

"We heard gunshots around 1 a.m. and everybody went into hiding because we knew that the kidnappers were there for abduction," Major said, Premium Times reported. "They went from house to house and abducted people, including our traditional ruler and a pregnant woman. I was not aware of the number of those abducted until in the morning when I came out to hear that our district head was among the victims."

Another resident said it was the third such incident in six months.

Usman Abdullahi, a police public relations officer, said, "It has been confirmed that a district head and fifteen others have been kidnapped. Notably, the kidnapped individuals include two policemen — an inspector and a sergeant — both residing within the community."

Abdullahi said the police command has deployed professional hunters, strike force, anti-kidnapping units and vigilantes in the area to nab the kidnappers.

An intelligence report from SB Morgan, titled "The Economics of Nigeria's Kidnap Industry: Follow the Money," revealed that Nigeria was in the grip of a "kidnap epidemic." Within one year, 3,620 people were abducted, while N5 billion was demanded as ransom, the report showed.

There have been over 430 casualties so far this year – security agents accounted for 19 deaths and kidnappers were responsible for 121 deaths.

Earlier this week, Afenifere, a socio-cultural organization for the Yoruba people of Nigeria, urged the federal government and security agencies to take measures to curb increasing crimes, including armed robberies and kidnappings.