Gunmen have kidnapped 28 travellers in the Zak community, Bashar District, Wase Local Government Area (LGA) of Plateau State.
The victims include children whose ages range from eight to nine years.
According to residents, the victims were also said to include an Islamic scholar, two teachers, and their students. They were travelling from a village near Bashar to Sabon Layi for Maulidi prayers on Tuesday night.
They reportedly left their community around 8:00 pm before running into the kidnappers on the way.
The abduction was not discovered until about 10:00 pm when passersby noticed the victims’ vehicle abandoned by the roadside and raised an alarm in town. Community members who rushed to the scene later traced footprints believed to belong to the kidnappers to Kukawa, a forested settlement about one kilometre from where the vehicle was found.
Speaking on the incident, the youth leader of Wase Local Government Area, Shafi Sambo, said the community immediately alerted security agencies.
“We followed their footprints to the forest and later reported to the military. The army also mobilised and tracked the kidnappers, but no success was recorded,” he said.
According to him, evidence at the scene suggested the abductors may have trekked with the victims for about a kilometre before transporting them on motorcycles, based on tracks found along the route.
Sambo said as of the time of filing this report, the kidnappers had neither contacted the families nor demanded any ransom.
“Up till now, there has been no call from them. the community is still waiting and praying for news of those abducted,” he said.
He said that residents have long lived in fear due to recurring kidnappings along the road, but noted that such a large number of people had never been abducted at once.
Sambo explained that locals often avoid the road or only travel on it with military escort because of past incidents.
The incident comes amid renewed efforts by the Plateau State Government to strengthen community-based security.
READ ALSO: FG declares kidnappers and bandits as terrorists in Nigeria
On Monday, Governor Caleb Mutfwang reiterated his administration’s commitment to peace and security while addressing the passing-out ceremony of 1,450 operatives of Operation Rainbow, the state-owned security outfit.
Governor Mutfwang described security as “the bedrock upon which sustainable development is built,” stressing that without peace, there could be no meaningful progress or prosperity.
He said his administration had prioritised community-based security initiatives, noting that effective intelligence gathering and collaboration with conventional security agencies were critical to tackling insecurity.
The governor assured residents that the state would continue to invest in security infrastructure, training, intelligence, and strategic partnerships, adding that Operation Rainbow was designed to protect all citizens regardless of faith, ethnicity, or background.
He also disclosed that the government had partnered with the Nigerian Air Force to deploy helicopters for security surveillance, particularly in rural communities during the festive season.
Meanwhile, security agencies and community leaders are said to be intensifying efforts to trace the abductors and secure the release of the victims, as families and residents anxiously await word on their whereabouts.