A lecturer at the Taraba State University has been abducted by suspected kidnappers along the Chinkai–Kente–Wukari highway while travelling from Abuja to Jalingo.

Security sources told Zagazola Makama that the incident occurred on Thursday, July 31 at about 8:30 p.m. between Janda-Ikula and Ikyior communities in Wukari Local Government Area.

The sources said that the incident was reported by a local hunter, who accompanied one of the victims, Mr Emmanuel Haggai Bibinu, a 42-year-old businessman of Ichen ethnic group, to file the complaint.

Bibinu told security personnel that he and the abducted victim, identified as Engineer Joshua Saleh, a 38-year-old lecturer at Taraba State University, were attacked by four armed hoodlums while travelling in a private vehicle.

He said the assailants, armed with a gun and three cutlasses, fired at the front tyres of their vehicle, forcing them to stop. They were then dispossessed of valuables, including a Samsung Galaxy G10 phone worth N1.7 million and N83,000 in cash.

The attackers subsequently marched both victims into the bush.

Bibinu managed to escape and ran to Ikyior village, where he was rescued by the hunter who later took him to the police station.

In a related development, suspected kidnappers have abducted a staff member of the University of Abuja, Mr. Ibrahim Ishaq Sani, from the institution’s staff quarters in Giri, Gwagwalada Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

It was gathered that the incident occurred around 10:30 p.m. on Wednesday, July 31, prompting an immediate response by operatives of the Joint Task Force, Operation SWEEP, under Sector 1 of the FCT Command.

The team swiftly moved to the scene upon receiving distress reports, but the abductors had already fled with the victim before their arrival.

Following the abduction, the operatives conducted a coordinated search of the surrounding area in an effort to rescue the victim and track the suspects, but no contact was established. (Pieced together from reports by Zagazola)