Gunmen, suspected to be Fulani herdsmen, have reportedly kidnapped a man after allegedly forcing his wife to cook jollof rice for them in Okpanam, Oshimili North Local Government Area (L.G.A.) of Delta State.

Our correspondents gathered that the kidnappers, who struck at the Graceland Estate in Okpanam during a heavy rainfall on Monday, March 23rd, 2020, attacked the couple’s apartment and kidnapped the man, simply identified as Mr. Joseph, after eating the rice.

The wife, simply identified as Mrs. Joseph, told Flavision that the abductors entered the apartment via the window, and ordered her husband to open the door, at gunpoint.

She said,

We were in the house when we heard some noise from the window. They told my husband to open the window. When the window was opened, they pointed a gun at my husband and asked him to open the door.

They brought my husband out in the rain and asked him to lie down and they took me inside and asked me to prepare rice for them, which I did. They took all my husband’s shoes, clothes, phones, ATM cards and all my jewellery.

After preparing the jollof rice, they ordered me to dish it into a flask, which they took away with my husband to an unknown destination.

I put a call through to the Divisional Police Officer of Okpanam, but the DPO said that he could not come as it was late.

The woman noted that their attackers were herders, judging from the fact that they spoke in a language that sounded like Fulani.

The Delta State Police Command’s Public Relations Officer in the state, DSP Onome Onovwakpoyeya, confirmed the incident on Wednesday, March 25th, 2020 and said the command was making efforts to find and rescue the kidnap victim.

The DPO, Okpanam, has confirmed the incident. But another man, who was kidnapped on Saturday in the area, was rescued on the same day,

she said.

Justin Nwosu

Justin Nwosu is the founder and publisher of Flavision. His core interest is in writing unbiased news about Nigeria in particular and Africa in general. He’s a strong adherent of investigative journalism, with a bent on exposing corruption, abuse of power and societal ills.