Residents say they are in shock and are mourning the chief, whom they pray will be released soon by the unknown bandits.

A traditional ruler, his wife and children were among 22 people abducted by unknown gunmen in the town of Pupule, in the Yorro Local Government Area in the northern part of Taraba State.
Ahmed Gassol, a reporter for Taraba Truth and Fact newspaper, told RNI that the abduction took place in the early hours of Tuesday, December 19.

Umaru Nyala, the chief of the Yorro chiefdom in Pupule, his wife, children, police officers and three of his bodyguards were among those abducted.
“The state government has formed a taskforce committee, aimed at fighting terrorism, members of which had opened fire on the bandits.”

He said taskforce members had killed two of the bandits but that the bandits had also managed to kill a policeman. This was not confirmed.

Police headquarters in the state had not issued a statement but officers confirmed that the chief and at least 21 others of his household had been abducted.

Shocked residents said the federal and state governments needed to take drastic action to stop insecurity in the district and prioritise the security sector.

The gunmen stole food from the traditional ruler’s house and ordered the chief and the other abductees to carry the food on their heads as the left for the bushes. The bandits had told them the food would be used to feed all those abducted. Residents agreed that this was questionable.

They told reporters that after the abduction, on their way out of town, the gunmen had abducted a woman and two of her children.

Another report said unknown gunmen had abducted at least 18 people on the night before the chief was abducted. The victims were from the neighbouring town of Lau towards the axis leading to Jalingo.

Gassol said bandits did not usually abduct people in the area to demand huge ransoms. It was well known, he said, that the town did not have wealthy residents and, as a result, the bandits asked for “minimal” ransoms.

He said residents in the town were in mourning and were praying for the safe return of the chief and other abductees.
At the time of publishing, no one had taken any measure to try to find and rescue the abductees. Residents said they were waiting for further information from the government and/or security operatives.

AYSHA MUSTAPHA KOLOMI