Five gunmen on Thursday stormed the Plateau High Court in Barkin Ladi Local Government and and stole four kidnap and robbery suspects scheduled for arraignment.
The suspects were identified as Umar Adamu, Bashir Mohammed, Musa Usman and Abdul Haruna.
They were to appear before Justice Nanpon Dadi when the invasion occurred.
A visibly shaken Prosecutor from the Plateau Ministry of Justice, who preferred anonymity, told NAN that the gunmen stormed the court premises about 9.30 a.m., shooting in the air.
“The suspects were to appear before Justice Nanpon Dadi but the judge was said to be away on an appeal panel in Jos. So parties in the matter decided to take a new date.
“While we were taking a date, the prison van came into the premises with the suspects.
“Shortly after, the gunmen, in a commando manner, started shooting sporadically.
“They over-powered the prison officials and everyone took to their heels, after which the gunmen took the suspects away.
“The prison officials immediately went to the Barkin Ladi police station for reinforcement, unfortunately the situation could not be salvaged as they had disappeared into the bush,” the prosecutor said.
Mr Jacob Longden, Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), Plateau State Ministry of Justice, said the ministry was aware of the development and had reported the matter to the Attorney General, the Permanent Secretary and security agencies in the state.
Longden said the state Security Task Force (STF) was already on the trail of the gunmen and suspects.

By Martha Nyam