An army ranking officer simply identified as Lt. Colonel Josiah, has been kidnapped from his lodge after attending a marriage ceremony in Bomadi local government area of Delta State.

The incident which occurred yesterday at Bomadi, headquarters of the area council, has caused panic in the riverside town, with soldiers from the Bomadi Division of the military Joint Task Force (JTF) patrolling Bomadi and surrounding communities.

Findings revealed that Lt Colonel Josiah attended a marriage ceremony at Kpakiama community, a neighbouring community of Bomadi, over the weekend. After attending the ceremony, he proceeded to his lodge at Bomadi, the council’s headquarters.

Our source, who pleaded anonymity, disclosed that the kidnappers, who were armed, struck at the lodge in the dead of the night around 2 am to 2.30 am, ransacked various rooms, took the phones of lodgers and whisked away the military officer in a ready vehicle.

“The kidnappers came to the hotel around 2 am to 2.30 am last night. They searched every room, took the phones of lodgers and forced the military officer to the outside. They even shot a gun before zooming out of the hotel premises with the military officer in their vehicle. There was also blood on the ground after they had left the premises.

“The following day, we heard that the JTF had found the vehicle in which they carried out the operation in neighbouring Tuomo community, which was abandoned by the side of the Tuomo-Ogbobagbene-Tamigbe-Torugbene-Ojobo road. The vehicle has already been brought to their base at Bomadi-Overside,” he said.

However, there is tension in Bomadi and environs over the incident, with residents expressing the fear of the unknown over what they termed possible transferred aggression on ordinary citizens with strict measures. (Vanguard, but headline rejigged)