Tension has gripped Bomadi Local Government Area of Delta State after gunmen brazenly abducted a senior military officer, identified as Lt Colonel Josiah, in the early hours of Sunday.
The officer, who had attended a wedding ceremony in Kpakiama community, a neighbouring settlement, later retired to his lodge at Bomadi, the council headquarters, where the kidnappers struck in the dead of the night.
Eyewitnesses said the heavily armed attackers stormed the lodge at about 2:00 am, moving from room to room, dispossessing lodgers of their phones before singling out the senior officer. The assailants fired gunshots to scare off resistance before whisking the Lt Colonel away in a getaway vehicle.
“There was commotion everywhere. They searched every room, seized phones, and dragged the officer outside. We even heard a gunshot before they zoomed off. After they left, bloodstains were seen on the ground,” a source disclosed.
The following morning, military operatives recovered an abandoned vehicle believed to have been used by the kidnappers at Tuomo community, along the Tuomo-Ogbobagbene-Tamigbe-Torugbene-Ojobo road. The vehicle has since been moved to the Joint Task Force (JTF) base at Bomadi-Overside for investigation.
The abduction has sparked palpable fear across Bomadi and adjoining communities, with soldiers intensifying patrols and mounting checkpoints in search of the abductors.
Authorities are yet to release an official statement on the daring kidnap, but sources within the JTF hinted that a massive manhunt has been launched to track down the gunmen and rescue the officer alive.
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