Gunmen have abducted eight charcoal burners in the Nyalun community, Bashar District, of Wase Local Government Area of Plateau State.

It was gathered that the incident occurred on Tuesday evening as the victims were returning home after processing charcoal on the outskirts of the community.

During an interview with PUNCH Metro, a youth leader in Wase, Shapi’i Sambo, confirmed the incident on Wednesday.

He said the kidnappers initially abducted 10 occupants of the vehicle but later released two in Garga, Kanam Local Government Area, to relay a ransom demand.

“The victims were returning around 7:30 p.m. when the perpetrators suddenly stopped their vehicle, which was loaded with charcoal, and took them away.

“It is a shocking incident because the victims were struggling to make ends meet when this happened,” the youth leader said.

He identified the abducted victims as Hassan Sa’idu, Shamsudden Abubakar, Usamatu Yakubu, Dayyabu Usman Waziri, Inkilulu Dauda, Ado Sambo, Sule Dahiru, and Umar Amadu.

Sambo added that the kidnappers were believed to have taken the victims into the Kukawa bush, a known hideout for criminal groups.

One of the two persons released, Mummuni Musa, said the victims were tied up before he and another person were freed to deliver the ransom message.

“The kidnappers told us to go home and tell the owner of the vehicle to sell it and pay the ransom for the eight persons,” he said.

Communities in Wase and Kanam Local Government Areas have, in recent years, recorded repeated cases of kidnapping and banditry.

The latest incident comes about two weeks after gunmen killed soldiers and vigilantes in Kanam Local Government Area.

Efforts to reach the spokesperson for the Plateau State Police Command, DSP Alabo Alfred, were unsuccessful as of the time of filing this report. (Text, excluding headline: The PUNCH)