Eight persons, including a son of the district head of Zip town, Alhaji Uba, have been abducted by gunmen at Illela village in Karim Lamido Local Government Area of Taraba State.

The gunmen, numbering over 15, invaded the village about 4pm on Thursday.

Daily Trustgathered that the gunmen were some of the bandits that have been terrorising the area for the past months.

A resident of the village, Dauda Suleiman, told our correspondent in a telephone interview that the bandits had been in control of the area and moved with guns freely, both day and night.

Suleiman said there was no presence of security agents as many people, including women, were robbed and kidnapped.

“The bandits are in control of the area and have forced many residents to relocate,” he said.

The district head, who confirmed to Daily Trust Saturday that his son was among the abductees, said the abductors had demanded a ransom of N70 million.

The spokesperson of the Taraba police command, DSP Usman Abdullahi, confirmed the incident.

“It has been reliably confirmed that 11 persons were kidnapped, two persons escaped, while a 70-year-old Zainab Adamu died of trauma,” Usman said. (Daily Trust)