Residents of Jos and Bukuru metropolis are now sleeping with one eye closed as kidnapping of innocent and responsible citizens, mostly women and children, has become rampant in Jos and most parts of Plateau state, LEADERSHIP reports.
Apart from kidnapping business which is booming, cult related activities has became the order of the day in places like Jenta Adamu, Rukubu road, Kabong, Sara Suka in Bauchi road among others.
The kidnappers fired a strong, bold, and daring warning to Governor Lalong as they successfully kidnapped and made away with the wife of the deputy director of press, Government House, on New Year day, January 1, 2020.
The abduction of the wife of the deputy director of press was the climax of a series of kidnapping operations that characterised life during the Yuletide in and around Jos, as innocent citizens were forced to move with their tails in-between their legs for fear of kidnappers, daredevil cultists, or other hoodlums who literally took over the social space in the state and forced those whose quest for fun to sit at home.
Before the kidnapping of the wife of the deputy director of press to Governor Simon Lalong on New Year Day, cases of kidnapping of children from the hands of their parents at home had occurred in the Bukuru part of the Jos Metropolis, where the Theological College of Northern Nigeria, TCNN, is located, while others also occurred successfully behind the old Government House, Rayfield, in Zarmaganda, and another behind Jossy Royal Hotel, along Bukuru Road.
Others took place at the Rukuba Road, Kufang, and Dadin Kowa area, all within the Jos-Bukuru Metropolitan area. Also a staff of Jay FM Jos was attacked at gun point along Tudun Wada ring road and her mobile phone and other valuable carted away by the attackers on motorcycle.
Although the terms of the negotiations with the kidnappers in respect of the wife of the deputy director of press could not be ascertained at press time, it was gathered that her parents had to mobilise and part with between N300,000 to N500,000 to secure the release of their wards by the abductors.
Although the business is on the rise as criminal activities surge, the situation of kidnapping in the southern part of the state, especially Quaán Pan local government area is petty, ridiculous, and painful, as the perpetrators of the heinous crime have reduced it to a veritable road side show.
The bargain for the release of a kidnap victim could come down to as low as N10,000. Besides, in Jos, most Christian worshippers could not observe the popular crossover night mass on December 31 in their various churches because kidnappers, cultists, and sundry hoodlums were on the prowl and prepared to get the best of the night. Passengers going to the Southern parts of the state also had to defer their journeys in some cases because of the fear of gang ambush and unsafe roads in Plateau.
