Gunmen suspected to be kidnappers have abducted the Benue state Commissioner for Housing and Urban Development, Chief Ekpe Ogbu and taken him to an unknown destination.
It was gatherer that Chief Ogbu, a former Chairman of the Ado Local Government area, was kidnapped at the notorious Adankari Junction along the Otukpo-Ado road at about 4 pm on Sunday.
It was further gathered that the commissioner was abducted along with his driver, personal assistant and his brother-in-law.
The Hilux van he was travelling in has been recovered by the police in Otukpo and rescue efforts have begun.
The Special Adviser to Governor Samuel Ortom, on Security Matters, Lt. Col. Paul Hemba (rtd), confirmed the abduction of Chief Ogbu.
Hemba said a manhunt has been launched to rescue him and arrest the abductors.
Meanwhile, the Benue State Police Command has confirmed the kidnap of Chief Ogbu and his aides.
The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Benue state command, SP Sewuese Anene, who confirmed the incident to newsmen in Makurdi on Monday, said that a team of police officers have already gone to the scene of the kidnap incident.
Anene said “Incident confirmed. We are on our way to the area. I will give you more information when we get there.”
“The Commissioner, we further learnt was travelling to Ado, his home Local Government Area (LGA) when the gunmen stopped his vehicle and forcibly dragged him and two others out and took them away.”
Sources also disclosed that the Commissioner had earlier attended a Church programme, where Senator Abba Moro, Benue South Senatorial district, dedicated his Campaign Council to God at St. Augustine Catholic Church, Otukpo.
He was reportedly heading back to his village in Ndekma, Utonkon in Ado LGA after the Church programme when he fell into the hands of his abductors.
Although the official Hilux van in which the Commissioner was travelling has been recovered, the whereabouts of the commissioner and the other victims is still uncertain.
As at the time of filing this report, no contact has been established with the kidnappers yet.