Gunmen abduct 16 travellers in Benue

Gunmen have abducted several travellers in separate attacks in Benue State and Kogi State, with casualties recorded and security agencies intensifying rescue operations.

In Benue State, at least 16 travellers were abducted along the Utonkon–Okpoga Road following an attack on a commercial bus conveying passengers from Oju Local Government Area and Obi Local Government Area to the western part of the country.

The incident occurred around 7pm on Monday along the road linking Ado Local Government Area and Okpokwu Local Government Area, barely 24 hours after nine worshippers were kidnapped from a church in the Utonkon community.

A youth leader in the area, Comrade Jude Onwe, said the bus, carrying 16 Igede-speaking passengers, had departed Iheijwo Market in Oju LGA for destinations in the western part of the country when it was intercepted by gunmen along the Utonkon–Ojapo/Okpoga axis in Ado LGA.

According to him, the attackers stopped the vehicle and forcefully marched 15 passengers into the bush, adding that one person was shot dead when the driver initially refused to stop. He said the assailants also seized the passengers’ phones to prevent them from contacting relatives, while the abandoned bus was later moved to the Utonkon Police Station.

Confirming the incident, the Chairman of Oju LGA, Jackson Ominyi, said 16 persons were involved in the attack, out of whom two were killed while two others were rescued.

He added that the rescue was achieved through a joint effort with the chairman of Okpokwu LGA, while security agencies were still searching for the remaining 12 abducted passengers.

Meanwhile, in Kogi State, suspected kidnappers abducted passengers from three vehicles—a Siena bus, a jeep and a Honda Accord—along the Ejule–Alloma highway in Ofu Local Government Area.

Local sources said the attack occurred around 5pm on Monday when the vehicles, travelling from Ejule to Enugu, were flagged down at a barricade mounted by the assailants near the Government Secondary School in Alloma community.

Witnesses said several passengers were ferried into the bush, while others sustained varying degrees of injuries from gunshots during the ambush. Those injured were evacuated by security operatives and rushed to the Comprehensive Hospital, Alloma, for treatment.

A security source later clarified that four passengers aboard the Siena bus were kidnapped, while passengers in the Honda Accord and the jeep escaped with injuries. Bush combing operations were said to be ongoing, involving the army, police and local vigilantes.

The operation commander of the Idah Area Command of the Nigeria Forest Security Service, Kassim Itodo, confirmed the rescue of one of the abducted passengers, identified as Blessing Richard.

The rescued woman said she was travelling from Abah to Kaduna when the vehicle she boarded was intercepted at Alloma community and the passengers were marched into the forest.

“I became tired and fainted in the bush after trekking for hours. The abductors abandoned me and moved on with the others,” she said in a video clip.

She was initially taken to Iboko settlement from Alade bush and is currently receiving treatment at a hospital in Alloma.

As at the time of filing this report, police spokespersons in both Benue and Kogi states had yet to respond to calls and messages seeking official comments.

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