Gunmen have abducted eight charcoal workers in Nyalun community, located in the Bashar District of Wase Local Government Area, Plateau State.
The incident occurred on Tuesday evening as the victims were returning home after processing charcoal on the outskirts of the community.
According to local sources, the attackers intercepted the vehicle conveying the workers at about 7:30 p.m. and forcefully took them away.
A youth leader in Wase, Shapi’i Sambo, who confirmed the incident, disclosed that the gunmen initially abducted 10 occupants of the vehicle but later released two of them in Garga, Kanam Local Government Area, to deliver a ransom message.
Sambo described the attack as disturbing, noting that the victims were ordinary workers striving to earn a living when they were kidnapped.
The abducted individuals have been identified as Hassan Sa’idu, Shamsudden Abubakar, Usamatu Yakubu, Dayyabu Usman Waziri, Inkilulu Dauda, Ado Sambo, Sule Dahiru, and Umar Amadu.
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One of the released victims, Mummuni Musa, revealed that the abductees were tied up before he and another person were set free.
He added that the kidnappers instructed them to inform the owner of the vehicle to sell it in order to raise funds for the ransom.
The attackers are believed to have taken the victims into the Kukawa bush, an area reportedly known for criminal hideouts.
Communities within Wase and neighbouring Kanam Local Government Areas have continued to face recurring incidents of kidnapping and banditry.
The latest abduction comes barely two weeks after gunmen reportedly killed soldiers and vigilantes in Kanam.
As of the time of filing this report, efforts to reach the spokesperson of the Plateau State Police Command, DSP Alabo Alfred, for official comments were unsuccessful.
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