Gunmen suspected to be Fulani herdsmen have reportedly kidnapped at least 6 persons, including four corps members, a pregnant woman and an orphaned girl.
Daily Report Nigeria gathered that the abducted victims were kidnapped on Saturday in Ochadamu community after Ayingba, in Kogi State.
The hoodlums attacked the 14-seater Benue Links bus they boarded from Gboko Local Government Area of Benue state, while on their way to Lagos.
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The bandits were said to have intercepted the vehicle near Ochadamu Junction and robbed them of their valuable items.
The bandits have also made a N60 million ransom demand as a condition to release the six abducted persons.
The driver of the Benue Links vehicle, Emmanuel Owoicho, who spoke to newsmen on Thursday, said he had picked 13 passengers in Gboko Town and started the ill-fated Lagos journey at about 10 am that day.
He said his vehicle was intercepted by two gun-wielding bandits who jumped on the highway and forcibly demanded that he stop the vehicle at about 4 pm shortly after he passed Ayingba in Kogi State.
“‘On Saturday I was travelling to Lagos. So after Ayingba, the place is called the Ochada junction. On reaching there around 4 pm, I saw some men coming out from the bush and started shooting at us. I wanted to go ahead but later I realised that if I do that, they will riddle the bus with bullets. So, I parked.’
Owoicho said as soon as he stopped the 14-seater bus, other members of the gang numbering about six came out from the bush and joined the initial two to rob him and all the passengers.
“They collected our money, phones, everything we had they collected. Then they asked us to lie on the road but on sighting a trailer at high-speed approaching, their leader asked us to get up and lie down by the roadside. He now asked six persons including a pregnant woman to follow him, three men and three females into the bush.
“I called back my passengers and we got to a naval checkpoint and reported the incident to them. They and some vigilante asked me to take them to the spot of the incident. After over 30 to 40 minutes search, they came back to say they could not find the kidnappers.
“The next day which was Sunday, I went to the Police Station in Ayingba to formally report the incident and they instructed me to go. I then took the remaining passengers back to Gboko.
“I had left Gboko by after 10 am on that Saturday and got to that junction at about 4 pm. I picked 13 passengers from Gboko on that day and they kidnapped six. They collected the sum of 42, 000 naira from me.
“The kidnappers are demanding 10 million naira as ransom from those kidnapped but their families are negotiating between 750,000 and 450,000. There is an orphan girl whose family said they only have 80,000.
“Amongst those kidnapped is a pregnant woman who left her phone in the vehicle. Her husband came and we have handed the phone and her luggage back to him.
“I feel sad about the whole incidence. And every night since the incidence, I’ve been praying that the kidnapped victims are all released as soon as possible,” the driver lamented.
