BREAKING: Gunmen Abduct Dozens Of Passengers In Two Buses At Security Checkpoint
There was tension as Armed men suspected to be kidnappers have reportedly abducted passengers travelling in two Toyota buses in Kogi State.
The abducted travellers were said to be travelling along the Itobe–Ajegwu–Anyigba road in the Ofu Local Government Area of the state.
The criminals, it was reported, deployed and intercepted a trailer to block the road shortly after a security checkpoint located near the scene of the incident.
Eyewitnesses said one of the buses, with registration number KG: KPA 622LG, was heading towards Abuja with passengers from a motor park in Ankpa community, Kogi East.
The incident was said to have occured around 5 a.m. on Thursday between Ojiwo’-Ajengo and Mamereboh villages along the highway.
A resident of Achigili, in the neighbouring village, Unubi Ademu, said, “It’s not easy to determine the number of passengers involved in the kidnapping yet. We could only establish that one of the buses was carrying passengers from an Ankpa community, as revealed by some scattered documents and other belongings found at the scene of the incident.
“The two buses were heading towards Abuja when they ran into the barricade mounted by the hoodlums in the early hours of Thursday. All the passengers, including drivers of the two buses, were whisked into the criminals’ hide-out in the bush.”
According to Daily Trust, locals disclosed that security operatives, including soldiers, hunters, and vigilantes, swung into action immediately after receiving news of the incident.
According to an eyewitness who simply identified himself as Evangelist James, a resident of a community along the Itobe–Ajegwu–Anyigba highway, security operatives have since launched an operation to rescue the victims.
“We saw men in military uniforms driving furiously through our village towards the area. A brother told me on the phone that security operatives, vigilantes and hunters are already trailing their abductors in the bush in a bid to rescue the victims and arrest their abductors.”
Naija News House called the Kogi Command Police Public Relations Officer, William Aya, to seek reactions on the development but he did not pick his calls as of the time of filing this report.
There have been heightened kidnap incidents across different parts of the country with ransoms ranging different amounts paid.
Repeated promises made by the Nigerian government have failed to put an end to the kidnap incidents and growing insecurity which sometimes result in killing of the persons abducted.
