Rose Ejembi, Makurdi
Unknown gunmen have abducted a popular Igbo trader identified as Oga John in Igumale, headquarters of Ado local government area of Benue State.
Sources from the area told newsmen that the Oga was abducted on Saturday at about 7:20pm at his business premises located at Camp Junction in Igumale, Ado Local Government Area of the state.
Oga’s abduction is coming barely three weeks after some gunmen suspected to be kidnappers abducted a retired DSS  senior officer in the area.
Ochai Onazi a lawyer who is based in Igumale disclosed to newsmen on phone that the kidnappers stormed the community through the Adiga-Igumale road and abducted the trader.
Onazi said that the victim owned the biggest supermarket in Igumale and was at the shop transacting business when the kidnappers  stormed the premises and wasted no time in opening fire to scare people away.
He said on sighting Oga, the gunmen seized him and continues shooting sporadically until they whisked him away to an unknown destination.
Onazi who regretted the increasing spate of kidnapping in Igumale lamented that the headquarters of Ado local government area was gradually becoming a den of kidnappers and other criminal activities.
He said a day hardly passed without criminal acts being perpetrated in the area and called on security agencies to intervene in the security situation currently confronting the community.
“You remember that it was just last few weeks ago that Mr Unogwu, a retired DSS office from Igumale was abducted on his way back from Otukpo to Igumale. Before then, another popular businessman from the area was kidnapped and only released after he paid millions of naira in ransom.
He appealed to Governor Samuel Ortom to send security personnel to the area stressing that Igumale was fast becoming a safe haven for criminals in the state.
Our correspondent gathered from a family source that Oga’ s abductors were yet to open discussion with the family or demand ransom up to the time of filing this report.
When contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Catherine Anene, confirmed the report saying the police were still on the trail of the abductors.