From Sylvanus Viashima, Jalingo
The Taraba State Police Command has confirmed the abduction of two wives and six children of the First Class Chief of Mutum Biyu in Gassol Local Government Area of Taraba State, Alhaji Sani Kachalla Duna.
The command’s spokesperson, Abdulahi Usman, confirmed this in a phone interview with our correspondent.
Usman said that the suspected gunmen breached the fence to the Jalingo residence of the monarch and took his two wives and six children to an unknown destination.
He said that the command was working assiduously to track down the kidnappers and safely rescue the abducted family members.
“I can confirm to you that the command had received report about the abduction of two wives and six children of the First Class Chief of Mutum Biyu, Alhaji Sani Kachalla Duna at his residence here in Jalingo by unknown gunmen.
“The information we got is that the armed men invaded his home at around 1am through the fence and went away with the eight family members to an unknown destination.
“We are already in the field trying to track them down and safely rescue the abducted family members. As we speak, demand for ransom has not been made. We are leaving no stone unturned to ensure that we get these people back safely.
“Let me urge members of the public to feel very free to come forward with any useful intelligence that may be of help in our efforts to track down the criminals. It is also not just for this case, but members of the public are encouraged to always share any useful intelligence they have with the police to enable us prevent most of the crimes from happening and, or at the least, solve them promptly when they do happen,” he said.
Gassol has been one of the flashpoints for bandits and other criminal elements in the state, forcing most people in the area to push their families to the relative safety of Jalingo, the state capital.