Ex-Governor Jang’s aide killed, 2 others kidnapped

Aide to former Governor Jonah Jang of Plateau State, now representing Plateau South-South in the Senate, Elder Sunny Iyere, has been killed by kidnapers along Abuja-Kafanchan highway, while  two others on transit with him were kidnapped and held hostage for three days.

Tribune Online learnt that the former Special Assistant was traveling from Abuja to Jos on Tuesday in his Toyota Land Cruiser with other occupants when the vehicle was waylaid by the Kidnappers numbering about eight at Kafanchan forest in Kaduna State.

It was gathered that in an attempt to force the vehicle which was on a high speed to stop, the kidnappers released gunshots on the car while one of the bullets hit Iyere, who was behind the wheel on the forehead thereby forcing the vehicle to stop while the marauders swooped on them.

One of the escapees further narrated that the three occupants were dragged out of the vehicle and beaten to the point of coma adding that while they were being dragged into the bush the kidnapper s discovered that Iyere was bleeding profusely and abandoned him beside his car where he died, while others were dragged into the bush.

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A family member of the deceased who did not want his name in print told Tribune Online that Iyere along with his friend left Jos for Abuja on Monday on business trip but were on their way back to Jos on Tuesday when the unfortunate incident happened, adding that the deceased had earlier before taken off in Abuja notified his wife of his intention to take off and told her to ensure that his dinner is ready before his arrival.

According to the relation, when it was about 11:00 pm, the wife called his husband but the phone was switched off only for somebody to call 30 minutes later to tell her that the husband was in the hospital, adding that the sad news was later broken to another relation whom the wife notified of the incident.

Meanwhile, the two kidnapped victims were set free on Friday at about 3:00 a.m. at a village along Abuja to Kaduna road and have since met with their families in Jos.

When Tribune Online visited the resident of one of them in Dadin Kowa area of Jos, it was full of people who came to rejoice with the family, while none of the relation was willing to comment on the incident.

When contacted, the Plateau State Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Terna Tyopev, said the command was not aware of the incident.

“If the incident happened in Kafanchan which is part of Kaduna State, we may not have the detail or the information, nevertheless I will find out. You can call me later.” he said.