Abducted Ukum Local Government Council Caretaker Chairman, Reverend Haanongon Gideon, has regained freedom after 10 days in captivity.
The council chairman was whisked away on January 14, 2024 alongside his Personal Assistant on Administration, Ior Silas Yuhwam, his driver and police orderly.
They were abducted along Anyagba in Tongov of Katsina Ala LGA of the state while they were on their way to attend the burial of the paramount ruler of Katsina Ala LGA, the Ter Katsina Ala, HRH Chief Fezaanga Wombo.
But the victims were freed after soldiers of 72 Special Forces Battalion under 401 Special Brigade in Benue went after the abductors.
A Security Adviser to the Benue State governor, Lt. Col Alexander Ashungu (rtd), who confirmed the release of the victims commended the troops.
Ashungu reiterated that the Benue government has zero tolerance for crime and working hard to make the state safe for all law abiding citizens.
The rescued chairman who was subsequently administered First Aid and given food to eat while narrating his ordeal to journalists at 72 Battalion in Makurdj, said he was on his way to attend the burial of the late Ter Katsina-Ala when he came in contact with some strange boys who were shooting sporadically.
He added, “At that point, I told my driver to stop the car and they took us straight into the bush. They covered my face throughout the period of my captivity. I did not know when it was day time or night. They kept us inside a thatched house without air.
“Each day, the soldiers will come shooting but they manoeuvered their way through a bush path and hid us inside a river. The soldiers destroyed their camps and they kept moving us to another place. They did not feed me because they do not have food themselves to eat. I was urinating often so they gave me banana leaves and it stopped.
“At a point they told me that these soldiers are disturbing them because of me and that the Governor had appealed to them to release me and he will forgive them. They said I should tell the Governor to keep to his words and get them out of the bush. So, at about 8pm on Wednesday, we crossed a stream and trekked a very long distance almost like from Makurdi to Abinsi and they removed the blindfold and asked me to take a path that leads to Zaki-Biam.
“But I recognized the village which is Tse Wombo in Katsina-Ala because my daughter is married there. I must appreciate immensely the effort of the military because it was their persistent pressure that made the kidnappers release me. Also, the Special adviser to Governor Hyacinth Alia on Security Lt. Col. Alexander Ashungu (rtd) played a significant role in my release.”
