Gunmen kill two, kidnap 16 along Abuja-Lokoja highway

Gunmen suspected to be kidnappers have shot dead two drivers, abducted 16 passengers at Idu village, along Abuja-Lokoja highway.

Daily trust learnt that three other passengers sustained bullets wounds in the attack.

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One of the drivers was identified as Nicholas Ofodile.

Three wounded passengers are currently responding to treatment at federal medical center Lokoja.

A driver, who escaped the attack and identified himself as Usman, said the incident happened around 5:48am on Wednesday, when the gunmen suddenly emerged from the bush with sophisticated weapon and opened fire on vehicles coming from both lanes.

He said the gunmen, who were over 30 in number descended from a big hill close to a sharp bend along the highway, a situation which he said forced some vehicles coming on top speed to veered off the road into the bush.

He said the Volkswagen golf driver and Mazda salon car were unlucky as the gunmen opened fire on the vehicles, killing the two drivers.

The passengers of the two vehicles were taken away.

According to him, he was conveying passengers from Gegu town going to Abaji market when the gunmen suddenly appeared on the road.

He said he made a u -turn to escape the attack.

“In fact, it was God that saved me when I stopped to pick passenger, because the two that died were ahead of my vehicle by few kilometers.

I applied brake and turned back immediately I saw the attackers,” he said

A resident of the community, identified as Suleiman, said the remains of one of the drivers who is a native of the area have been buried according to Islamic rites, while the remains of the second driver, identified as Nicholas Ofodile, has been deposited at federal medical center morgue in Lokoja.

“But the three other people that sustained bullets wounds were also taken to federal medical center in Lokoja for treatment,” he said.

Our correspondent reliably gathered that Nicholas Ofodile, is the owner of Chucks Supermarket Lokoja, Kogi State.

Daily trust report that the incident is coming barely one week when eight police men were killed in Isanlu Bank robbery attack.

When contacted, the Kogi state Police Public Relations Officer, DSP William Aya confirmed the incident to newsmen saying,”I just got a call that the owner of Chucks Supermarket has been killed alongside one other person.
“The command is yet to get details of what happened”.