GUNMEN have kidnapped 15 travellers along the Utonkon–Okpoga Road in Benue State.
News Point Nigeria reports that the travellers were in a bus, plying the road situated in Utonkon axis, Ado Local Government Area of the North-Central state, before the gunmen struck. The incident happened around 7 pm on Monday along the road linking Ado and Okpokwu local government areas of Benue State.
A youth leader in Utonkon district, Jude Onwe, narrated to this newspaper how the incident happened.
According to him, the commercial bus conveying 16 passengers was outward bound from Utonkon through Okpoga in Okpokwu local government area.
Onwe said the passengers departed from Iheijwo market, Oju Local Government Area, enroute to different destinations in South West Nigeria, before they were intercepted by the gunmen, who stopped the vehicle and forcefully took the passengers into the bush.
“The gunmen collected the passengers’ phones to prevent them from contacting their relatives,” he said, adding that the abandoned bus was later moved to the Utonkon police station.
According to the chairman of Oju Local Government Area, Jackson Ominyi, the incident involved sixteen persons. Two were killed, while two others were rescued.
Ominyi explained that the rescue of the two victims was achieved through a joint effort with the chairman of Okpokwu LGA, adding that security agencies were still searching for the remaining passengers.
However, the spokesman of the Benue State Police Command, Udeme Edet, said one traveller was killed while 15 others were kidnapped.
Edet said that the Benue |State Commissioner of Police, Ifeanyi Emenari, has again deployed a tactical team to pursue the perpetrators.
The incident came barely 48 hours ago after gunmen stormed Saint John’s Catholic Church, Ojije in the Utonkon district of the North Central state.
They kidnapped nine worshippers who were attending a church vigil. No arrest has been made yet.
Benue has been experiencing a series of attacks by non-state actors who kidnap people at will, kidnap others, and wreak havoc.
Despite the efforts of the state government and security agencies, the gunmen still maim innocent residents and travellers alike.