Gunmen abduct German in Adamawa

By Garba Mohammad
Some yet to be identified gunmen numbering about ten riding on five motorcycles have on Wednesday morning, abducted a German in Gombi town in Adamawa State, north eastern Nigeria.
Security sources and local residents say that the incident occurred at about 6:45 a.m. local time at Anguwan Faransa area of the town.
The abducted German national said to be the principal in charge of a Government Technical Skill Acquisition Centre in the town, was on his way to work when he was kidnapped.
A resident of the town,Mr Joseph Ga’anda said that the man, whose name he gave as Mr Nitsch Eberhard is a very popular figure in the town.
“The abductors laid siege on his house, they were alleged to have slept near his house or came in the wee hours,because we saw their abandoned blankets near the house.
‘’ The gunmen suspected to be members of Boko Haram came on motorcycles. And as soon as the man came out and was about to get into his car, two persons on foot approached him and pointed a gun at him. They now called the two other sets of people on motorcycles who approached them and they carried him away on their motorcycle,” Mr Ga’anda said.
“Almost everybody in this town knows him because he helps us a lot, especially in the area of repairing the town’s water bore holes. Most of the time he uses his own money to buy equipment and repairs our boreholes,” he added.
Another resident who doesn’t want his name be mentioned confided that the incident occurred when the police escort attached to the abducted man was away .
‘’The police escort was said to be bereaved….The gunmen have since fled away,’’ said the source.
Efforts to get details from the Technical Training Services, firm handling the training scheme in Adamawa proved abortive during a visit to their office in Yola, the state capital as none of the senior staff was available .A police officer was seen wearing a gloomy face.
In the meantime, the German Embassy in Abuja when contacted over the telephone said it was not yet aware of the incident.
When contacted the spokesperson of the police in Adamawa State, DSP Othman Abubakar confirmed the abduction but could not give details.
Adamawa is one of three states under emergency rule due to the activities of the Boko Haram insurgents.