• Troops, local security chase kidnappers, free 31 hostages
• Search ongoing for 10 missing passengers, including bus driver
Tension has gripped Kogi State following the abduction of over 40 people along the Dekina–Ajiyolo–Anyigba road on Friday evening.
The victims, mostly residents of Abocho community, were returning home from the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise in Dekina Local Government Area when heavily armed men ambushed their bus around 6 p.m.
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Witnesses said the attackers, numbering over 20, intercepted the vehicle and forcefully took the passengers into the forest. The incident caused panic in surrounding communities as residents feared for the safety of their loved ones.
However, troops of the 12 Brigade, Lokoja, in collaboration with local security operatives, swiftly launched a rescue operation. Their intervention forced the kidnappers to abandon 31 of the victims and flee with about 10 others.m
An eyewitness told reporters that the kidnappers “released some victims to deceive security forces,” before escaping deeper into the forest with the remaining hostages.
The recovered bus has since been taken to Abocho Police Station as the joint security task force intensifies its search for the remaining captives.
Efforts to reach the Kogi State Police Public Relations Officer, ASP William Ovye, were unsuccessful at the time of filing this report.
