Some gunmen on Wednesday kidnapped three children at about 8pm on Wednesday night in Kaduna Estate, Ajaokuta Steel township complex in the Ajaokuta Local Government Area of Kogi State.
The incident comes a few days after three policemen and five vigilantes were killed by unidentified gunmen in Jida Bassa under the Ajaokuta Local Government.
According to eyewitness accounts, the gunmen who were fully armed shot sporadically into the air to scarce security agencies and neighbours before kidnapping the three children.
A family source who craved anonymity identified the parent of the kidnapped child as Mr Kadiri who hailed from Edo State.
The source said the gunmen on Thursday morning contacted the family of their victims demanding N100 million before they will release the abducted children.
It was also gathered that the kidnapped children are aged five, seven and 10 respectively.
Narrating how the incident happened, the source said, “The gunmen came in their numbers fully armed to the house of Mr Kadiri, our brother, who sells television, radio and other electronic devices in the steel township.
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“They shot countless times to keep people from coming close. When they could not see their target victim (Kadiri), they decided to pick up the three children from the house. As we speak, their whereabouts are unknown. The kidnappers contacted some of our family members and they are demanding N100 million. Where on earth can we raise such an amount of money?
“Here in Ajaokuta, we can no longer sleep with our eyes closed. There is armed robbery and kidnapping everywhere. Recently, we all saw how innocent policemen and vigilantes were killed. Things are already falling apart. Nowhere is safe again”.
An effort to speak with the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in Kogi State, William Ovye Aya proved abortive at the time of filing this report. He did not pick up his calls or respond to text messages sent to his phone lines.
Meanwhile, there was pandemonium on Thursday afternoon at the popular FFN market in Ajaokuta Local Government Area as police officers invaded the market searching for suspected criminals terrorizing the locality.
It was learnt that motorists, motorcyclists, traders and buyers had to scamper for safety for fear of being hurt.
A trader who identified herself as Fati said, “The policemen came with their Hilux searching for all these suspected criminally minded Fulani terrorizing Ajaokuta Steel township and its environs. Some Fulanis who do market for us ran into the bush over fear of being arrested.
“This actually caused tension among traders and buyers, which forced everybody to close the market for days. Insecurity in our locality is getting worse every day. Now that we can’t come out and sell over fear of being attacked by these criminals, how do we feed our families? I am a widow with five children.”
It would be recalled that, as part of measures to address insecurity, Kogi State Governor Alhaji Yahaya Bello recently ordered the closure of all brothels that harbour criminals and placed a ban on the wearing of facemasks in public places for proper identification.
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