Two visually impaired individuals who were seized by armed hoodlums along the Riyom Local Government Area of Plateau State have successfully secured their freedom. The captives, who were initially targeted while heading toward Jos on a Monday evening, were freed following an ordeal that saw their captors demand a staggering fifty million naira ransom.
Shindol Aaron, the Chairman of the Plateau State branch of the Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities (JONAPWD), validated the development during a phone conversation, disclosing that the individuals were liberated late Wednesday night.
"We were fortunate yesterday that they let them go. I communicated with the relatives who travelled to retrieve them, and they verified that the victims were already aboard a vehicle heading back into the city," Aaron stated.
According to Aaron, the victims regained their liberty sometime between 9:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. following their harrowing detention. He also revealed that security personnel have successfully tracked down and arrested the suspected perpetrators.
How did the abduction happen?
The victims were part of a group of nine travelers journeying in a single automobile toward Benue State for an official training workshop. The group was forced to abort their journey and head back near Akwaga after receiving information that the scheduled event had been postponed.
During the ambush by the gunmen, seven other passengers in the vehicle managed to evade capture and escape into safety.
Insecurity along major transit routes remains a persistent challenge in parts of Plateau State and across the Middle Belt region of Nigeria, prompting continuous security responses from agencies like the Nigeria Police Force.