From Jude Owuamanam, Jos
The police in Jos, Plateau State have recovered the car of a former chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in the state, Mr. Katdapba Gobum, who was abducted Wednesday evening.
Gobum was allegedly kidnapped on Wednesday evening after he left the Press Centre on his way to his house in the Bukuru area of Jos South. His abductors were said to have contacted the family and demanded a ransom of N35 million.
The former NUJ chairman retired recently as a senior editor with the Nigerian Standard, published by the Plateau Publishing and Printing Company (PPPC).
Former General Manager of PPPC, Mr. Jonathan Ishaku and the immediate past chairman of NUJ, Mr. Paul Jatau, confirmed the incident. Ishaku said Gobum had left the Press Centre after hanging out with colleagues and was on his way home when his wife called him, and he confirmed that he was actually on his way home.
He said: “After that, when they called him again after waiting for him and not seeing him, his phone was not going through. They called several of his friends and nobody appeared to know anything as it appeared he was driving home alone. But early this morning (Thursday), the kidnappers called his wife and demanded N35 million ransom.”
Jatau on his part expressed surprise at the development, wondering why journalists should be victims of kidnapping.
The Plateau State Commissioner of Police, Julius Alawari, was said to have visited the police division in Bukuru, where the case was documented, following a complaint lodged by the leadership of the NUJ in the state. As of the time of this report, the police were said to be combining Jos South, Bukuru and its environs in search of the missing journalist.