Nkemi Nicholas Nshe, a previous governorship contestant in Plateau State’s 2019 election, has been kidnapped by gunmen.
Nshe, a leader of the Peoples Democratic Party who has previously served as the chairman of the state’s Shendam Local Government Area, was kidnapped in the early hours of Saturday at his residence in the council area, according to the PUNCH.
Governor Simon Lalong is from the Southern Zone’s Shendam LGA.
Nshe was kidnapped just 24 hours after Charles Mato Dakat, a traditional king in the state’s neighboring central zone, was released.
The traditional ruler was kidnapped by gunmen last Sunday around 1 a.m. at his palace in Gindiri community, Mangu LGA.
He was held captive for five days by kidnappers who sought N500 million in ransom.
Despite the fact that troops from the Military Taskforce in charge of maintaining security in the state, also known as Operation Safe Haven, stated they arrested eight people in connection with the monarch’s kidnapping, they were unable to say whether a ransom was paid to guarantee his release.
According to sources in Shendam LGA, the latest kidnapping was reported to The PUNCH in Jos on Sunday.
Nshe’s Shendam comrade, who bemoaned the former council boss’s kidnapping, informed our correspondent that the event was increasing tension in the Council area.
He said, “Please join us in praying for the release of Dr Nkemi Nshe who was forcefully kidnapped from his Shendam residence in the early hours of Saturday being the New Year day, January 1, 2022. It was in the night that the gunmen came to his house and whisked him away. They did not go with his phone.
“The incident is rather unfortunate. We don’t know where they have taken him to. But yesterday evening (Saturday), I learnt that the kidnappers called the family members through the phone number of the son and demanded N100 million ransom which they later reduced to N50 million.
“Where will they get that kind of money when people are just suffering everywhere? It baffles me why the Federal Government through the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy would make Nigerians go through hard experiences by subjecting them to SIM card registration and yet, this kind of thing would be happening without the perpetrators being apprehended. What is the relevance of that registration exercise? Where are we going in this country in this kind of situation? We pray that the former council chairman be released safely because he has done nothing to warrant his abduction.”
When reached, Ubah Ogaba, spokesman for the Plateau State Police Command, said he would get back to our correspondent once he had more information on the event.
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