Suspected hoodlums have allegedly abducted a former Chairman of the Federated Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Bayelsa State Council, Julius Osahon, and several others.

Osahon is The Guardian correspondent in Bayelsa.

A source said the journalist and the others, numbering about 17, were abducted on Monday evening in Ewreni community on the East-West Road in Ughelli North Local Government Area of Delta State.

The source said the gunmen shot the driver of the vehicle in which the journalists and the others were travelling.

“The gunmen have reportedly established contact with the journalist’s wife and are demanding N5 million ransom for his release,” the source said.

Meanwhile, a survivor of the attack, Lucky Egboyi, told journalists in Warri that they were returning from Bayelsa when they ran into the hoodlums who were operating on the road.

Egboyi, a Warri-based lawyer, said the hoodlums shot the driver of their vehicle before abducting the passengers.

“It was a narrow escape for me and a few others because we had to run into the bush,” he said.

Police spokesperson in Delta State, Bright Edafe, declined to comment on the incident when contacted by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)

“I will get back to you,” Edafe, a deputy superintendent of police, said in a response to an inquiry from a NAN reporter.

Abduction-for-ransom by criminal gangs has become one of the most prevalent crimes in Nigeria, rendering most of the nation’s highways unsafe for travellers.