Tension has enveloped Bomadi, headquarters of Bomadi Local Government Area in Delta State, as yet-to-be-identified gunmen abducted an Army officer from his military base in the locality.
The Army officer identified simply as Lt.-Col. Josiah was said to have been abducted from his lodge as the invading gunmen fired gunshots sporadically to scare people from the base at about 2 am on Sunday.
The incident which has already resulted in panic across the LGA, has prompted the drafting of combined teams of vigilantes and soldiers from the Bomadi Division of the military Joint Task Force, who are now in frantic search for the abducted army officer in Bomadi bushes and surrounding communities.
Our correspondent during a visit on Tuesday saw residents of Bomadi and the adjoining communities clustering in groups, discussing the incident, just as they were expressing fear of the unknown over what they termed possible transferred aggression on ordinary citizens in the locality by the military.
A local source who refused to identify himself for fear hinted that the abducted officer attended a marriage ceremony in the Kpakiama community, a neighbouring community to Bomadi, over the weekend.
He disclosed that after attending the ceremony, the officer proceeded to his lodge at Bomadi.
According to him, “The armed kidnappers invaded the Army Officers’ lodge about 2.30 am during which time they ransacked all the rooms of the hotel, seized all the available phones and then whisked away the military officer in an awaiting vehicle”.
The source said, “The kidnappers came to the hotel about 2a.m. to 2.30a.m. They searched every room, took the phones from the lodgers and forced the military officer outside.
“They even fired shots before zooming out of the hotel premises with the military officer in their vehicle. There was also blood on the ground after they had left the premises.
“The following day, we heard that the JTF had found the vehicle in which they carried out the operation in the neighbouring Tuomo community, which was abandoned by the side of the Tuomo-Ogbobagbene-Tamigbe-Torugbene-Ojobo road.
“The vehicle has already been brought to their base at Bomadi-Overside”.
Meanwhile, all efforts by our correspondent to obtain comments on the issue from the military authorities were to no avail as of the time of filing this report.
