Ekpe Ogbu, the commissioner of housing and urban development for Benue state, was kidnapped. According to a family source, the kidnappers used the phone of the Commissioner’s driver to call the Commissioner’s family and asked for a N5 million ransom.
Two teams from the Otukpo divisional police, including officers of Operation Zenda and Safe Highway, were reportedly deployed, according to a police source.
Four police teams have been sent to the location to try to save the four persons. The Commissioner was abducted on Sunday in Adankari village along the Otukpo/Ado road together with his driver, assistant, and another person.
Catherine Anene, the State Command’s public relations officer, claimed in a statement released on Monday that police officers on patrol noticed a car parked near a forest along the Adankari hamlet, Otukpo-Ado road.
Shortly after the car was found, it was learned that Ekpe Ogbu, the housing and urban development commissioner for Benue State, who had traveled to Utonkon for a funeral, was returning with three other people along the same route and was no longer traceable. Police teams were sent out right away to look for these individuals.
Meanwhile, Catherine Anene, revealed that the event took place at a woodland near the Otukpo/Ado road around 6:20 p.m.
While speaking with members of the Adankari community, The Benue State Command Commissioner of Police, CP Wale Abass, asked them to provide information to the police in order to help them with the ongoing investigation.
CP Wale Abass, who visited the scene for on-the-spot assessment, had discovered a new path linking the woodland to the highway and set sufficient security on the road to prevent further incidents.
