EIGHT charcoal workers have been kidnapped by gunmen in Nyalun community, Bashar District, within Wase Local Government Area of Plateau State.
The abduction reportedly took place on Tuesday evening as the victims were heading home after processing charcoal outside the community.
A youth leader in Wase, Shapi’i Sambo, confirmed the incident, stating that the attackers intercepted a vehicle carrying 10 individuals and took them away.
According to him, two of the victims were later released in Garga, Kanam Local Government Area, with instructions to deliver a ransom message.
Sambo explained that the victims were ambushed around 7:30 p.m. when the gunmen stopped their charcoal-laden vehicle and forcibly took them.
He described the situation as particularly tragic, noting that the victims were simply trying to earn a living.
The abducted individuals were identified as Hassan Sa’idu, Shamsudden Abubakar, Usamatu Yakubu, Dayyabu Usman Waziri, Inkilulu Dauda, Ado Sambo, Sule Dahiru, and Umar Amadu.
One of the freed victims, Mummuni Musa, said the group had been restrained before he and another person were released to pass on the kidnappers’ demand.
According to him, the abductors instructed them to tell the vehicle’s owner to sell it in order to raise ransom for the remaining captives.
Sambo added that the victims were believed to have been taken into the Kukawa bush, an area known as criminal hideouts.
Kidnapping and banditry have remained persistent challenges in Wase and Kanam local government areas.
The latest abduction follows a recent attack in Kanam where gunmen reportedly killed soldiers and vigilantes.
Attempts to reach the spokesperson of the Plateau State Police Command, DSP Alabo Alfred, were unsuccessful at the time of reporting.
