The military is alleged to have kidnapped Mr. Dung Tari, the chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party in Plateau State’s Jos South Local Government Area.
Chris Hassan, the state chairman of the PDP, stated during a news conference on Thursday in Jos that Tari was kidnapped by unidentified military troops at around 1pm after he had met with members of his Executive Committee at the party’s secretariat in the Bukuru neighborhood of Jos South LGA.
Hassan described how Tari picked up his niece on his way to address a family business after the meeting at the LGA party headquarters in Bukuru, which is how the LGA chairman was kidnapped.
“Thereafter, he made a stop at a Total Filling Station in Bukuru and parked his car to answer calls. He was then encircled by two Toyota Hilux pickup trucks with military-themed paint jobs and license plates, along with men wearing Nigerian military uniforms. One of the soldiers also forcibly removed his niece from his personal car before driving off to an unidentified location.
He continued, “Until this time of the press conference, we have not heard from him or his abductors; neither is his family informed of his whereabouts and the reason for his abduction.” According to Hassan, the incident occurred on September 23, 2023.
The state PDP chair said that action had been taken to report the situation to the state’s various security authorities so that an investigation into the whereabouts of the kidnapped LGA chairman could begin.
He claimed that the commando-style kidnapping of Tari was creating unrest in the state and endangering the tenuous calm that was already in place.
Hassan appealed to the National Security Adviser, the Inspector General of Police, the Chief of Army Staff, and the Director General of the DSS to use their good offices and intervene in the situation to ensure the immediate release of the LGA chairman. Hassan promised to provide sureties who will produce the LGA chairman upon demand.
However, in response, Captain Oya James, the spokesman for the military unit in charge of upholding peace in Plateau, cleared members of the Nigerian military of any role in the kidnapping of Tari.
James stated, “I have gotten multiple calls on the accusations by the PDP and I have also made calls and found out that nothing like that happened. I challenge the PDP to come forth with evidence to support their claims.
“They claimed that those responsible for the kidnapping used military vehicles, but given the time we are in, we’ve seen people out on the streets committing crimes while wearing camouflage and other military gear. However, if they assert that they have an eyewitness, let that person get up and present any supporting documentation involving our troops so that we can identify the vehicle as all of our military vehicles are identified by numbers.
