A Daily Trust reporter, Abubakar Sadiq Isah, was on Saturday held hostage at Gurdi village and had his mobile phone confiscated by some youths purported to be loyalists of the incumbent Chairman of Abaji Area Council, Alhaji Musa Yahaya Mohammed in the community.

Sadiq, who was in the community to source for news, said after his interaction with some residents of the community and interview with the traditional head of the village, Malam Halidu Musa, about problems facing the community, he took photographs of some abandoned/uncompleted projects and about to leave when some youths held him hostage.

According to Sadiq, shortly after he left the chief palace, some youths trailed him and brought him back to the palace where a youth who identified himself as Sule and an aide to Abaji Area Council Chairman, told him that the Chairman directed that he should delete all the photographs he has taken and hand over his memory card to the chief. According to the adviser, the council chairman denied knowledge of the reporter's visit to obtain any information about the village.

Sadiq said that all efforts to convince the youth in presence of the traditional head to free him since he was only doing his job as a journalist fell on deaf ears, as they forcefully collected his phone and removed the memory card including his jotter.

He said that the youth thereafter ordered him to leave the community and vowed to deal with him should he publish anything about the community.

Sadiq alleged that Abaji Council boss, Musa Yahaya, had at a security meeting expressed displeasure over his alleged negative reports concerning the area council.