Kidnappers have shot dead one man, identified as Ayuba, and abducted six family members on a farm at Lagbeta community in Kogi Local Government Area of Kogi State.
Daily Trust reports that Labgeta community is located along the Abuja-Lokoja Highway.
A relation of the victims, Ishaya Bulus, said the incident happened on Wednesday morning at about 10am when the victims were harvesting from their farm.
He said Ayuba was shot dead by kidnappers while he was attempting to escape when they were being led away into the forest.
“They were busy harvesting beniseed when the kidnappers suddenly appeared and rounded them up at gunpoint. And it was while they were moving the victims into the forest that one of them attempted to escape and the kidnappers shot him,” he said.
He said the remains of the deceased have been deposited in the mortuary, even as he said the family was yet to establish contact with the kidnappers.
A vigilante member in Kotonkarfe, who preferred anonymity, confirmed the incident, even as she said vigilantes were combing forests around the area in order to trace the kidnappers’ hideout.
The spokesman of the state police command, CSP Williams Ovye Aya, did not answer several calls put across to him and also did not reply to a text message sent to him.