Two of the 24 traders abducted along Mutumbiiyu Jalingo road at Sibire last week have died in the hands of their abductors, with the remaining 22 regaining their freedom.

The traders were abducted along Jalingo road at Sibire village, on a market day on Saturday at about 7 p.m., by a group of gunmen.

The gunmen, numbering about 20 blocked the Jalingo - Wukari near NYSC camp and abducted the traders. The abductors took the traders into a deserted farm settlement along Mallam Ali - Tau road, where they seized the phones of their victims and called their families and demanded for ransom. One of the victims, Mallam Garba Haruna, told our reporter that he and 23 other traders were forced into a deserted farm settlement by the gunmen and locked inside a hut. He said for the four days they spent in captivity they were only fed with garri once a day.

He said two of the victims died in the hand of the abductors while the rest were released after their relations paid ransom ranging from N100,000 to N200,000. North East Trust gathered that many travellers were abducted along Mutumbiiyu - Jalingo and Jalingo - Sunkani road in the last few weeks forcing motorists to abandon the roads. The Police Public Relations Officer Taraba State command, DSP David Misal could not be reach for comment and he did not answer text message sent to him by our reporter.

•Adapted from a Daily Trust report.