Passengers travelling to Abuja abducted in Kogi

An unspecified number of passengers in an 18-seater bus have been allegedly abducted at Ochadamu along Anyigba-Itobe road in Ofu Local Government Area of Kogi State.

It was not clear whether the bus was fully occupied or not as of the time of filing this report.

An eyewitness stated that the incident happened around 4pm on Monday at a kidnapping hotspot on the highway.

The report from the areas stated that the hoodlums in their numbers flagged down the bus at gunpoint and whisked the passengers to the bush.

The bus was said to be heading for Abuja from the eastern region of the country.

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The locals added further that kidnapping activities in the Ochadamu flash point had reduced drastically, but picked up recently after the army checkpoint in the areas were dismantled following a fatal accident on the highway.

The security operatives, including the vigilantes in the areas were said to be making frantic efforts to rescue the kidnapped victims since the incident happened.

However, Navy Commander Jerry Omodara (rtd), the state security adviser to Governor Yahaya Bello, confirmed the incident on Thursday to Daily Trust, saying the state government was on top of it.

He stated that the state government had put enough measures in place to stem the tide of criminal activities in the area.

He said since the hoodlums were coming back to operate on the road again, the government would rejig its measures, adding that the hoodlums would be neutralised shortly.

“We have fought them; we will fight them; and we will continue to fight them until they are neutralised in that axis of the state. Security agents have been alerted and they will do the needful,” he said.

Effort to get comments from the state command’s Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), SP William Aya, did not yield results as he neither picked up calls nor responded to text messages.