Gunmen set ambush on Abuja-Lokoja Road, abduct passengers
Story from Christine Tobechukwu
Some suspected kidnappers have opened fire on two commercial 18-seater buses and abducted scores of passengers near Ochonyi village, along the Abuja-Lokoja highway.
One of the passengers of the buses, who escaped while being led into the bush, Shedrack Jonathan, said he boarded the bus at Jabi in Abuja, travelling to Enugu State when they ran into the gunmen.
He said the attackers who hid in the bush opened fire on the bus around 7:33 pm after Omoko village, last Thursday.
According to him, while the bus was descending a sloppy part of the road, they started hearing gunshots and the bus suddenly veered off the road into the bush. He said the attackers who hid in the bush opened fire on the bus.
He added that a few seconds later, some people emerged from the bush with guns and ordered them to come out from the bus and led them into the bush.
Jonathan said he managed to escape after about a kilometre from the highway and he came out at neighbouring Aseni village.
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He said, “At Aseni village, some vigilantes saw me and I narrated what happened and they mobilised to the scene.”
A member of the vigilante in the area, who preferred anonymity, confirmed the abduction of passengers from the two buses.
He said the gunmen came from the bush and shot the tyres of the two buses, which forced the drivers to stop.
He said, “Before we mobilised to the scene, the gunmen had escaped with the victims, leaving the buses by the road.
He said the vigilantes were still combing the forest to trail the gunmen and rescue the abducted victims unhurt, it was gathered that the scene of the attack was just a few metres away from a military checkpoint.
When contacted, the spokesman of the Kogi State Police Command, DSP Williams Ovye Ayah, promised to issue a press statement after finding the details of the incident.