APC youth leader, wife abducted in Kogi

Suspected kidnappers have reportedly abducted the All Progressives Congress (APC) Youth Leader of Ogbabede Ward in Abocho District, Dekina Local Government Area of Kogi State, Mr Arome Adaji, and his wife, Mrs Justina Arome, from their residence.

The incident reportedly occurred at about 8 p.m. on Wednesday when armed men stormed their residence along Ajegwuna Road in Abocho.

According to accounts from the community, the assailants fired sporadically as they entered the street, forcing residents to flee for safety before the couple were taken away.

A resident, who identified himself as Ndamodu, said Adaji, also known as Iron Gate, and his wife were relaxing at home when gunshots suddenly rang out around their residence.

“Mr Arome Adaji, aka Iron Gate, and his wife were at home relaxing when suddenly the staccato of gunfire rent the air around his house.

“The sound of gunshots scared residents from coming out, as no one wanted to be caught in either crossfire or stray bullets.

“It was after the hoodlums had left the scene that residents trooped out to locate the area of attack and discovered that the youth leader and his wife had been taken away by the armed hoodlums,” he said.

A community leader, Surveyor Agono Eneogba, said armed men had increasingly shifted their attacks from roads to residential areas, farms and farm settlements in communities across Kogi East.

“Security operatives, vigilantes and local hunters have mounted surveillance on roads in the Kogi East communities. For weeks now, the armed hoodlums have scaled down activities on roads, focusing on residences and farms or farm settlements where they are abducting people at an alarming rate,” he said.

Eneogba’s account came amid reports of other abductions in the area.

A few weeks ago, armed men reportedly abducted a mother and her four children while they were returning from a burial ceremony in the community.

The victims reportedly regained their freedom after a ransom was paid to their abductors.

When contacted for comments on the latest incident, the spokesperson for the Kogi State Police Command, ASP Saliu Oyiza Afusat, responded with the word “noted”.