Two staff of the Kogi State judiciary were on Thursday May 19, abducted by gunmen Suspected to be kidnappers and taken to an unknown destination.The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) gathered that Mr Timothy Salihu of Upper Area Court, Lokoja and Mr Aliyu Okeme, a retired Inspector of Area Court were abducted at gun-point.
The victims who were said to be on their way to Idah, were kidnapped on the Idah-Lokoja road in the eastern flank of the state.
An eye-witness told NAN that Okeme, who is now into private practice as a legal practitioner after his retirement and Salihu were together at the time of the incident.
When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Williams Aya, confirmed the incident but said the police were working round the clock to track down the abductors.
However a reliable source from the judiciary told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the abductors initially demanded N50 million ransom, but reduced it to N1 million after pleadings by the two families.
Similarly, ThisDay Newspaper reports that the Kwara APC Chairman and Secretary were Kidnapped along Lokoja-Okene Road
The Chairman and the Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kwara State, Hon. Ishola Balogun Fulani and Chief Bode Adekanye have been kidnapped at gun point along Lokoja Okene road in Kogi State.
The Publicity Secretary of the party in the state, Alhaji Sulyman Buhari confirmed the incident last night. The incident according to Buhari, occurred at about 10am on Friday while Balogun- Fulani and Adekanye were returning to Ilorin from Abuja.
According to him, “We received a call from the line of the chairman around this time, (10am) telling us of the kidnapping issue. No ransom was mentioned and all attempts to make further enquiries from them proved abortive as the line was no longer available. We are on it to see if we can still establish a link with them.
We have taken all the necessary steps and linked up with relevant security operatives to ensure their safety and eventual release”.
The APC in Kwara State has appealed to the Inspector General of Police, Mr Solomon Arase to free its state party chairman and the party secretary from the den of kidnappers.
The party urged the Nigeria Police and other security agencies in the country to deploy all within their powers to ensure the duo were freed unhurt and reunited with their families and loved ones as swift as possible.
Recall that last month, the Permanent Secretary of Osun State Ministry of Finance, Budget and Economic Planning, Mrs. Adebimpe Ogunlumade was abducted by gunmen while returning to Osogbo from Abuja.
Ogunlumade was kidnapped along with her driver, Mr. Oladapo Arogundade Ajani and a Director from the ministry, Mr. Tajudeen Badejoko who accompanied her to Abuja for the official assignment.
The Permanent Secretary and other officials were abducted at gunpointon Friday at Obajana along Lokoja-Okene road in Kogi State.
The state Auditor General who also travelled with the officials was said to have narrowly escaped the abduction.
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