Other MoA event in Nigeria on Thu 27th November 2025

Kidnapped Palm Wine Tappers: One Killed After Family Offered ₦10,000 in Desperate Negotiation

By:Zagazola Makama
A community search-and-rescue effort in Delta and Edo states has uncovered the tragic fate of two palm wine tappers abducted in Emuhu, near Agbor, leaving residents shaken and grief-stricken.

The incident began yesterday when the two men, both known locally for their daily trek into the bush to tap palm wine, were seized by armed kidnappers. The report of their abduction sparked immediate concern, prompting community leaders and security agencies to mobilize.

In an emotional account, a local coordinator who first raised the alarm said he suspended all engagements to join the rescue efforts.

The response was swift and wide-ranging: soldiers from the 63 Brigade, members of the Emuhu Vigilante Group, Anti-Cult Abavo, Operation Soup, and several Police units fanned out across the region. From Emuhu to Abavo, through Obi-Ayama and down to the thick bushes of Urhonigbe in Edo State, the team combed the terrain.

Their breakthrough came in Urhonigbe, where one of the abducted men was found alive exhausted, traumatized, and barely able to speak. When he finally did, his words painted a picture of the grim reality confronting many rural families.

According to the survivor, his colleague was killed after his family, overwhelmed by fear and poverty, offered the kidnappers the only money they could gather ₦10,000. The gunmen, angered by what they considered an insult, reportedly executed the victim on the spot.

The revelation stunned the rescuers and community members who had followed the search with hope. What should have been an ordinary day for two hardworking men ended in terror and irreversible loss.

As one member of the rescue team put it, “This is the painful reality our people are facing. Families too poor to pay ransoms, communities living in fear, and criminals treating human lives as bargaining chips.”

The surviving victim is receiving care, while joint security forces continue to track the kidnappers..

@DHQNigeria 
@HQNigerianArmy