Seven men have been remanded in the Makurdi Custodial Centre by a Makurdi Chief Magistrate’s Court for allegedly abducting Mr Ekpe Ogbu, the Benue State Commissioner for Housing and Urban Development, on Ado/Otukpo Road.
The chief magistrate, Roseline Iyorshe, ordered their remand and refused their plea for want of jurisdiction.
The defendants were charged with criminal conspiracy, illegal possession of firearms, kidnapping, and terrorism, according to the News Agency of Nigeria.
The defendants include Nuhu Musa, Mohammed Danjuma, Yunusa Usman, Abubakar Usman, Usman Saleh, Hamza Sani, and Monday Samuel.
Accounting to Inspector Jonah Uletu, the prosecuting counsel, on December 31, 2022, the police received a report of the incident via a signal from Operation Zenda Joint Task Force.
Following the signal, operatives pursued and apprehended the suspects after the commissioner was kidnapped on December 4, 2022.
He added that the suspects were discovered to be members of the abduction crime syndicate terrorising Benue South district and that one Beretta pistol was discovered on them at the time of the arrest.
He stated that the suspects voluntarily confessed to the crime during police investigation and that other gang members were still at large.
He asserted that the offences violated the Benue Robbery and Firearms Act of 2004 and the Benue Abduction, Hostage-taking, Kidnapping, Secret Cult, and Similar Activities Prohibition Laws of 2017.
The chief magistrate referred the case file to the Directorate of Public Prosecutions and adjourned until February 22 for mention.
