Gunmen abduct ex-Plateau gov Dariye’s father

UNKNOWN gunmen on Saturday night kidnapped Mr Dariye Defwang, the father of Sen. Joshua Dariye, at Mushere, his village in Bokkos Local Government Area of Plateau State.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the gunmen invaded the fenced area housing the former Plateau Governor’s family and started shooting sporadically, which scared the villagers.

One Adamu, Dariye’s relation, told NAN that “the fear-stricken villagers scampered in all directions and initially thought the invaders were cow thieves, but unknown to us, they had a different mission.’’

According to him, the gunmen forcefully took away the old man to the main road where they dressed him up with a woman’s clothes before speeding off with him on a motorcycle.

Unconfirmed sources claimed the kidnappers left a note in which they made their monetary demands to be paid in dollars.

They were also said to have left a contact number, but a family source said efforts to reach the line had not been successful as it had remained switched off.

Maj. Gen. Dave Enetie, the Commander, Special Task Force (STF) in charge of peace in Plateau, who confirmed the incident, said his men were combing everywhere for clues.

“We have reached out to security agents in Nasarawa and other neighbouring states.

“We have also linked up with the Directorate of Security Services (DSS) in Nasarawa and the search lights are everywhere, but we are yet to trace the kidnappers or the victim,’’ he said.

He, however, said that the STF was not aware of any note left by the kidnappers.

The kidnapping of Defwang brings to three, major kidnapping incidents in Plateau, with the first being the kidnap of Mr Michael Obi, father of Chelsea FC midfielder, John Obi Mikel, in 2012.

In January, gunmen also kidnapped a Lebanese, one Safi, an engineer handling the ongoing rehabilitation works on Gindiri Dam in Mangu Local Government. (NAN)