Bandits on motorcycles abduct Benue Information Commissioner, Matthew Abo

 

Bandits whisked away Benue State Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Matthew Abo, on Sunday. 

The bandits, numbering almost a dozen, abducted Abo around 8pm at his residence in Zaki-Biam.

An eyewitness who spoke to newsmen anonymously said the gunmen came on four motorcycles, ordered everyone in the house, including the commissioner’s wife and children, to lie face down and took him away to an unknown destination on one of the motorcycles.

The eyewitness further said the abductors compelled the commissioner at gun point to sit behind the rider of one of the motorcycles while a gunman sandwiched him.

The matter is said to have been reported to the police.

But the Benue State Police Command was yet to confirm the incident as of press time.

However, the Special Adviser on Security to the Governor, Chief Joe Har, confirmed the incident.

Abo was sworn in as a member of the Benue State Executive Council on August 29, 2023.

He hails from Ukum local government area which has been a major flashpoint of criminal activities with rampant killings and kidnappings in recent times.

Benue State has been a hotbed of terrorism, mass kidnappings and senseless killings.

Many of the residents now live in IDP camps in Makurdi, the state capital and elsewhere, having been forcefully dislodged from their ancestral homes by Fulani herdsmen.

Terrorism, banditry, kidnappings that were the hallmark of the former President Muhammadu Buhari regime seem to have reared their ugly heads again under the watch of President Bola Tinubu.

Nigerians are once again on edge.