Benue: Heartbreak in Makurdi as gunmen kidnap children after Church service

Makurdi, Benue State – The Kpaakpa family is engulfed in sorrow after the abduction of their two young children, Philomena Kpaakpa, 4, and Benedict Kpaakpa, 2, following a church service on Sunday at St Peter’s Catholic Church, Makurdi, the Benue State capital.

Reports indicate that the distressing incident unfolded when the children encountered a female hawker near the church premises. The hawker informed them that she didn’t have change and led them away to supposedly retrieve their balance. Meanwhile, their mother, unaware of this, proceeded ahead, only realizing later that her children were no longer behind her.

Despite frantic efforts to locate the children and the hawker, they seemingly vanished without a trace, adding to the anguish of the distraught family. The father of the abducted children is employed with the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) in Wurukum, Makurdi.

The Benue State Police Command has yet to receive an official report regarding the abduction, leaving the family and community anxiously awaiting developments.

In a separate but equally distressing incident, the state’s Commissioner for Information, Culture, and Tourism, Mathew Abo, and Mr. Iorwashima Erukaa, father of Channels Television presenter Charles Erukaa, were also kidnapped in Ukum Local Council of Benue State. The abductions occurred on Sunday night and Saturday, respectively.

While the exact circumstances of Mr. Erukaa’s kidnapping remain unclear, eyewitnesses recount the harrowing experience of the commissioner’s abduction. Masked assailants stormed the commissioner’s residence on motorcycles, compelling the entire household, including the commissioner’s wife and children, to lie face down before they whisked him away.

Expressing his outrage, Governor Hyacinth Alia of Benue State condemned the abductions, labeling them “barbaric, condemnable, and unacceptable.” The governor has instructed security agencies to initiate immediate operations to secure the safe release of the kidnapped victims.

The community and families affected by these abductions are anxiously waiting for news of the victims’ safe return, hoping for a resolution to this disturbing ordeal.