Gunmen storm court, whisk away four kidnap suspects in Plateau

A five-man gang on Thursday stormed the Plateau State High Court in Barkin Ladi local government area of the state and whisked away four kidnap and robbery suspects who were to be arraigned before the court.

The suspects —Umar Adamu, Bashir Mohammed, Musa Usman, and Abdul Haruna —were to appear before Justice Nanpon Dadi when the incident occurred.

A visibly shaken prosecutor from the state’s Ministry of Justice told journalists that the gunmen stormed the court premises at 9:30 a.m., shot in the air and took the suspects away.

He said: “The suspects were to appear before Justice Nanpon Dadi but the judge was said to be away on an appeal panel in Jos. So parties in the matter decided to take a new date.

“While we were taking a date, the prison van came into the premises with the suspects, shortly after, the gunmen, in a commando manner, started shooting sporadically.

READ ALSO: Hours after, gunmen release abducted wife of late Edo ex-speaker

“They over-powered the prison officials and everyone took to their heels, after which the gunmen took the suspects away.

“The prison officials immediately went to the Barkin Ladi police station for reinforcement, unfortunately the situation could not be salvaged as they had disappeared into the bush.”

The Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), Plateau State Ministry of Justice, Mr. Jacob Longden, said the ministry was aware of the development and had reported the matter to the Attorney General, the Permanent Secretary, and security agencies in the state.

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now