Bandits Kidnap Kogi Ex-Governor Yahaya Bello’s Former Special Adviser, Police Say Efforts Ongoing To Rescue Victim

The Kogi State Police Command has confirmed the kidnapping of Comfort Alege, who previously served as Special Adviser on Education to former Governor Yahaya Bello.

Alege was said to have been kidnapped by bandits in Lokoja, the state capital on Wednesday and the kidnappers have demanded a ransom.

It was learnt that the kidnappers trailed Alege from a street and blocked her as she was trying to enter her house.

The kidnappers reportedly later recorded her and made her speak to her people and the state government’s appointees. The clip was sent to her family.

Daily Trust reports that a family member who spoke on the condition of anonymity said, “She left to fix her car in the morning. We did not see her when we expected her back home and we became worried.

“We later got a video clip of her, with her face covered with a piece of cloth, saying she had been kidnapped and pleading to people to come to her rescue.”

According to the family source, Alege’s abductors have demanded an undisclosed sum of money running into millions of naira.

When contacted, the Kogi State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Williams Aya, confirmed the incident to SaharaReporters but denied knowledge of any ransom demand by the kidnappers.

“I don’t know about ransom but what I can tell you is that we are making efforts to rescue her.

“Efforts have been on since it happened. It is only this morning that I have not received a briefing to know the update between last night and now but efforts are on to rescue her,” the police spokesperson told SaharaReporters on the phone on Friday morning.