A fresh wave of anxiety has swept through Kogi State after a 76-year-old retired Major of the Nigerian Army, Pastor Joe Ajayi, was abducted from his residence in Odo-Ape community, Kabba-Bunu Local Government Area. ThePulseInfo gathered that the incident occurred at approximately 11:30 p.m. on Wednesday, when unidentified gunmen stormed the compound, overpowered local vigilance volunteers, and whisked the elderly cleric to an undisclosed location under a hail of sporadic gunfire.
Pastor Ajayi, widely respected for his dual service as a former military officer and onetime chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in Kabba-Bunu, had reportedly retired to bed after mid-week prayer meetings when the assailants struck. Family members said the attackers shattered a back door, forced their way in, and dragged him outside before speeding off into surrounding forest reserves that straddle Kogi and neighbouring Ekiti State.
Witnesses told ThePulseInfo that the operation lasted less than fifteen minutes, leaving neighbours too stunned—and too frightened—to pursue. “They shot in the air to scare everyone,” a youth leader said. “By the time we regrouped, they had vanished into the night.”
As of Thursday evening, no ransom demand had been formally communicated, but community elders fear that the motive is financially driven, given recent patterns of abduction in the region. The Kabba-Bunu axis has recorded at least four kidnappings in the past six months, often targeting commuters on the arterial Kabba-Ilorin highway and, increasingly, vulnerable residents in rural settlements.
Security agencies have launched a combined manhunt involving police tactical squads, local hunters, and military detachments from nearby barracks. Kogi State Police Public Relations Officer, SP William Aya, confirmed that detectives are “tracking useful leads” and assured the public that “every available resource is being deployed to rescue the victim unharmed and apprehend the perpetrators.”
Community leaders are calling on state and federal authorities to boost night patrols and reactive response times. Reverend Matthew Olakunle, current CAN chairman in Kabba-Bunu, lamented the rising tide of violence: “If a septuagenarian who served this country can be seized in his own home, it underscores how brazen these criminals have become.”
Pastor Ajayi’s abduction adds to growing concerns about the security landscape in Kogi’s central senatorial district, where economic hardship and porous forest borders are blamed for an uptick in kidnappings, armed robbery, and cattle rustling. While residents await news of the retired Major’s fate, many fear that without swift action, rural communities will remain easy targets for heavily armed gangs operating with near impunity.
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