Four people are reported to have been abducted at Ojuwo Ugbone village, between Idrisu and Bagana in Omala LGA of Kogi while on their way to Bagana market.
Witness said the incident happened on Friday when hoodlums flagged down the vehicle of the traders, (three men and a woman), said to be from Ankpa town, and whisked them into the bush by the road.
The locals said most traders used to come to Bagana town to drop off their wares a day before the market day, stressing that the kidnap victims were bringing their articles on Friday to display them for sale in the last Saturday market when they ran into the barricade of the hoodlums.
A brother of one of the kidnap victims, Egbunu, said in Ankpa that the hoodlums had called their families, demanding the sum of N10m ransom.
He appealed to security agents and vigilantes, including hunters, to come to their aid as the hoodlums have threatened to kill them if the ransom was not paid on time.
Our correspondent gathered that the news of the abducted traders was first released by some of the traders that escaped from the scene of the incident on Friday.
Meanwhile, the Omalla community has called on the state government and the council to put up a security structure in the area to enhance the peace deal that is gradually beginning to yield results, particularly the reopening of Bagana market in the area.
The Kogi State Police Command’s Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), SP William Aya, did not pick up his calls or reply to text messages over the incident as of the time of this report.
