Suspected Fulani herdsmen have kidnapped a man, his wife, and three (3) other persons along Mile 2 in Ivo LGA of Ebonyi state.
The Executive Chairman of the Ivo local government area of the state, Mr Emmanuel Ajah on Wednesday confirmed the incident when he spoke to newsmen in Abakaliki, the Ebonyi State capital.
The Chairman said the victims, a man and his wife, alongside the driver who was returning from a burial, and two other persons who were in their farms were kidnapped and moved into the bush in the area.
It was gathered that the victim's children were abandoned inside the vehicle by the kidnappers.
He said: "There is something like a kidnap in that place last Sunday. Before then, there is an incident that happened, you know that all this while, I have been trying to ensure that we put to an end all these insecurity challenges in Ivo LGA. I have put about three checking points, and three military bases mainly Aguleri and Calabar people.
"But unfortunately on Saturday night, the soldiers came and took away the local vigilantes."
Though as gathered, there was a petition by some persons who alleged that the vigilantes are an IPOB, Ajah debunked such an allegation.
He said: "You can't see any Ishiagu boy doing IPOB because there is nothing like that. Ishiagu man believes in legitimate means of getting money. The only thing Ivo does is fight for power and not for IPOB.
"It is the local vigilantes that I put there that protect the people, they even follow them (farmers especially the women) to the farms, to avoid attacks. We pay them (vigilantes) salaries as a way to retain them at those checking points.
"The soldiers took them away on Saturday, but on Sunday, the Fulani herdsmen came and blocked the road at the same place and kidnapped three persons who are coming back from a burial.
"They kidnapped one woman, the husband and the driver, and abandoned their children inside the vehicle. The kidnappers took some of their properties. The kidnappers equally kidnapped one of my neighbours at his farm, who doesn't even have one thousand naira."
He, however, tasked security agencies to investigate why the kidnappers invaded the checkpoint, just a day before they were taken away by the soldiers
"How did the Fulani herdsmen get to know that the local vigilantes weren't there for just one day, the soldiers took them away. People should stop doing politics with security," he hinted.
He restated his readiness to ensure that the victims be released unhurt, adding that he had mobilized security agencies alongside the villagers, who had moved inside the bush to rescue the abducted victims.
Ajah further disclosed how he stopped a protest by thousands of Ishiagu women, who had come out en mass to protest against the kidnap, and the petition written by someone that led to the arrest of the local vigilantes by soldiers in the council.
