KIDNAPPERS have abducted passengers of two Abuja-bound buses in the Inele-Eteke, Ogugu, New Road area of Kogi East district.
The buses were coming from the eastern part of the country. A source told this newspaper on Monday that the incident involved a GIG & ABC buses heading to Abuja.
The source said that the GIG bus left Umuahia in Abia State at 7:30 am on Saturday on its way to Abuja, the nation’s seat of power. In the wake of the abduction, he said GIG had contacted security services to track the abductees.
Meanwhile, Kogi State Police Command has confirmed the incident.
The command’s spokesman William Ayah in a Monday statement said the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of the area, local vigilantes, and hunters have been in the bush in an effort to rescue the victims.
He said the incident involved the GIG bus with 12 passengers and a Sienna bus belonging to ABC Transport with two occupants. But the driver of GIG Motors was later rescued by security operatives, the spokesman added.
According to him, Kogi State Commissioner of Police CP Bethrand Onuoha has deployed an additional Tactical Squad which consists of a Quick Response Unit, Police Mobile Force, Counter-Terrorism Unit, as well as conventional police personnel to the area to continue with the bush combing and to ensure all victims are rescued unhurt.
The abduction is the latest in the kidnapping incidents that have continued to gain momentum in several parts of the country despite efforts by security agencies and assurances from governments across different levels.
In recent weeks, kidnappers have abducted schoolchildren and their teachers in Ekiti State in the country’s South-West region. But they were freed later.
Last weekend, abductors took away 55 persons in Katsina state. They were kidnapped while escorting a bride along Damari town in Sabuwa Local Government Area of the state.
