Youths numbering in hundreds from the Sarkin Noma Community in the Keana Local Government Area of Nasarawa State, on Friday, barricaded the Lafia–Makurdi highway to protest the incessant invasions and kidnappings by yet-to-be-identified gunmen in their area.
A youth leader in the community, Mr Ogu Iliya, informed journalists that the protest was necessary to draw the authorities’ attention to their plight and demand immediate intervention.
According to him, gunmen, numbering about fifty, invaded the community between midnight and the early hours of Friday, shooting sporadically into the air to scare the residents of the area away and abducted an elderly resident.
While narrating the predicament being faced by the residents, he said the youths mobilised in self-defence, but two of them were shot dead during the encounter.
Mr. Iliya, however, affirmed that residents have been living in fear and helplessness owing to insecurity in the area.
His words: “Any resident who sells their farm produce and returns from the market at night is at risk. These gunmen, suspected to be herdsmen, come to kidnap them until ransom is paid. It has become unbearable. The elder taken last night is still missing, and we don’t know his condition.”
The angry youths took the corpses of the two victims to the highway and barricaded the road, preventing vehicular movement along the busy Lafia–Makurdi route.
Confirming the incident to journalists, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of the Nasarawa State Command, SP Ramhan Nansel, explained that security operatives, led by the Commissioner of Police, Shettima Mohammed-Jauro, were en route to the area to restore normalcy.
In other news, the Federal Capital Territory Police Command has rescued 23 foreign nationals from captivity in Nasarawa State.
The victims, including 14 men, eight women and a child, were freed unhurt during a late-night operation carried out by the command’s Scorpion Squad at Angwan Adamu Ruga Fulani Zone B, Riverside, Ado Mararaba, on Tuesday, October 22, 2025.
According to the FCT Police Public Relations Officer, SP Josephine Adeh, 14 suspects were arrested in connection with the crime following intelligence reports that several foreigners had been lured into Nigeria with fake job offers.
She said the victims were held hostage by the abductors, who demanded ransom payments from their families through WhatsApp and other online platforms.
A preliminary investigation revealed that Abubakar Jigiba, a notorious transnational criminal with links in Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Mali, and Nigeria, coordinated the syndicate. His brother, Sougule Zoubere, reportedly handled the recruitment and trafficking of victims from Mali into Nigeria.
“The group demanded four million CFA, about ₦10 million, as ransom for each victim,” Adeh stated.
