The family of an ex-banker, Alhaji Ali Rufai, has been thrown into confusion following his abduction by gunmen suspected to be bandits.

The victim was on his farm in Sheme village, in the Faskari Local Government Area of Katsina State, on Saturday, when he was taken away.

Rufai, who retired from a first generation bank before he went into farming, was reportedly seized by the gunmen while inspecting work on his farm.

Family sources in Funtua, where he was based, disclosed that the ex-banker left for the farm on Saturday, promising to return home on time to attend to some family matters.

The sources added that the family, however, became apprehensive when he did not return home as promised, while several phone calls to his lines were not picked.

A source said, “When we did not see him on time and he did not take his calls, we decided to organise a search party for him. We learnt from locals at the village that some gunmen stormed his farm and abducted him.”

The source, who said the abduction had been reported to the police, noted that the kidnappers had yet to contact the family.


In a related development, a legal practitioner in Plateau State, Gyang Zi, has been kidnapped by some hoodlums.

PUNCH Metro gathered that the senior lawyer was kidnapped around Little Rayfield Government House in Jos on Monday.


He was said to be driving home after closing from work when the gunmen accosted him and whisked him away.

The Toyota car which the legal practitioner drove before his abduction was later found abandoned on a road beside the fence of the government house on Tuesday.

The Jos branch chairman of the Nigeria Bar Association, Yakubu Bawa, confirmed the abduction.

Bawa said, “I have spoken with his wife and she confirmed the unfortunate incident.”

PUNCH Metro later learnt that the kidnappers freed the victim after his family paid a ransom of N10m.


A spokesman for the police command, Ubah Ogaba, who confirmed the development, however, attributed it to the manhunt launched by security operatives.


https://punchng.com/gunmen-abduct-ex-banker-in-katsina-lawyer-in-plateau/