A high-ranking army officer, referred to only as Lt Colonel Josiah, was reportedly taken hostage from his lodge after attending a wedding in Bomadi Local Government Area of Delta State.
The event took place yesterday in Bomadi, which is the main town of the local council, and has caused fear and alarm in the riverside community.
Soldiers from the Bomadi division of the Joint Task Force (JTF) have been patrolling the area and nearby villages.
According to reports, Lt Colonel Josiah attended a wedding over the weekend in Kpakiama, a nearby community to Bomadi. After the ceremony, he went back to his lodge in Bomadi, the council’s headquarters.
A person who asked not to be named said that armed kidnappers attacked the lodge in the early hours of the morning, between 2:00 and 2:30 a.m. They searched through several rooms, took phones from other guests, and then left with the military officer in a waiting car.
“They even fired a gun before speeding away from the hotel with the officer in their vehicle. There was also blood on the ground after they left the premises.
“The next day, we were told that the JTF had found the vehicle used in the operation in the neighboring Tuomo community, which was left abandoned by the side of the Tuomo-Ogbobagbene-Tamigbene-Torugbene-Ojobo road. The vehicle has already been taken to their base at Bomadi-Overside,” he said.
At the same time, there is a lot of tension in Bomadi and surrounding areas due to the incident, as people are scared of possible retaliation. Many are concerned that regular citizens could be treated harshly because of the situation.
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