Safiyanu Isa Andaha is the Chairman of Akwanga Local Government Area of Nasarawa State.

The victim was whisked away on Monday night at Ningo village along Andaha – Akwanga Road, alongside a native of the area. 

The victim was whisked away on Monday night at Ningo village along Andaha – Akwanga Road, alongside a native of the area, police authorities said.

According to the Police Public Relations Officer, Ramhan Nansel, security personnel comprising the police and other agencies have swiftly begun the trail of the abductors to ensure the release of the victims.

Gunmen have been operating in the North-Central and North-Western parts of the country despite the presence of security operatives.

Monday’s incident comes a few weeks after gunmen ambushed a convoy in Rivers, killing four soldiers, and two civilian drivers and abducting two Korean workers, according to the police.

Nasarawa, just like Zamfara, is one of several states in northwestern and central Nigeria terrorised by bandits who raid villages, kill and abduct residents as well as burn homes after looting them.

The gangs maintain camps in a huge forest straddling Zamfara, Katsina, Kaduna and Niger states.

The country is facing a myriad of security challenges, including a 14-year jihadist insurgency in the northeast that has killed at least 40,000 people and forced more than two million others to flee their homes.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has made tackling insecurity a priority since coming to office on May 29 last year, as he seeks to encourage foreign investment in Africa’s most populous country.