EMMANUEL Omanji, the traditional ruler of the Dari community in the Kokona Local Government Area of Nasarawa State has been abducted.
Omanji was whisked away on Wednesday night at his residence. The gunmen shot sporadically in the community before he was abducted.
The Nasarawa State Police Command Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Ramhan Nansel, confirmed the abduction to Channel Television.
Nansel noted that the Commissioner of Police in Nasarawa, Shetima Jauro Mohammed, has mobilised the commandās kidnapping unit, the military, and vigilantes to conduct a search and rescue operation aimed at rescuing the victim and arresting the perpetrators.
According to him, the commissioner seeks useful information that will assist the operation to cooperate with the Nigeria Police Force.
Meanwhile, police authorities in the state have launched an investigation into the death of five children who were found lifeless in an āabandonedā and āunserviceableā vehicle in the Obi Local Government Area of the state.
Nansel explained that they received a report about the discovery of the lifeless bodies of the children from a resident in the Agyaragu community where the incident occurred.
It disclosed that the children, aged between six and 10, were found āunresponsiveā in the vehicle parked in the compound of a resident.
The police also stated that the children were promptly evacuated to Aro Hospital, Agyaragu, where a medical doctor confirmed all five children dead due to suspected suffocation.
According to the statement, the remains were released to their parents based on a request for burial, due to severe heat burns on the bodies of the deceased.
The police, however, said the Commissioner of Police had ordered a thorough investigation to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident.
āThis heartbreaking incident is a painful reminder of a similar tragedy that occurred in August 2019, when two children lost their lives in an abandoned vehicle in Keffi.
