Gunmen have reportedly kidnapped the Divisional Police Officer in charge of Pankshin Division, Pankshin Local Government Area of Plateau State.
A policeman in the council area confirmed the development in Jos, the Plateau State capital on Thursday night.
According to him, the DPO, whose name and rank is yet to be known, was kidnapped by the gunmen after they shot him in his hotel room in the council area.
The source said that the DPO had just been posted to Pankshin about three days ago, and was staying in a hotel there when the gunmen came and shot him before taking him away. “Since then, we have not seen him”, he said.
As at the time of filing this report, the Police Public Relations Officer in the State, DSP Alfred Alabo, had yet to respond to calls made to him.
Furthermore, a resident of Pankshin who did not want to be named, said that kidnapping has been rife in the local community in recent times and everyone lives in fear.
Describing the incident, he said it “happened close to our house, as we just ended our night prayers with my family, we heard gunshots, we tried to find out what was happening and we learned that some armed men went to Woktori hotel. It was this morning that we got to know that it was the kidnappers that kidnapped the newly posted DPO in Pankshin. We learnt that the man just came and was lodged in the hotel when they came to kidnap him”.
The resident added that there has been a spike in the incidents of kidnapping recently, and that business people with fancy houses have been targeted, kidnapped and released after paying the demanded ransom.
“Everyone is living in fear. Even this night between 7 and 8 pm, there were still gunshots but we don’t know where or what it is. It is becoming rampant and we are getting used to it. By tomorrow we will hear what caused it. The DPO is very new, we don’t know him because he just resumed duty”, he said.
