Passengers from an 18-seater bus were kidnapped on Wednesday evening near Ochonyi-Omoko village on the Abuja-Lokoja highway in Kogi State.
According to a passenger, Benjamin Isaac, who escaped from being kidnapped by the bandits, the incident occurred around 8 p.m.
He claimed the attackers hid in a bush and opened fire on the moving vehicle, deflating the back tyres and bringing the vehicle to a halt.
“They opened fire on back tyres, causing the driver to lose control,” he said. When the driver went off the road, the gunmen emerged from hiding and summoned all of the passengers. They held a gun to our heads and led us into the woods.”
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Isaac claims he miraculously escaped the scene with other passengers and ran into the bus to avoid being kidnapped by the bandits.
A vigilante who requested anonymity confirmed the kidnapping, saying he was performing ablution nearby when the gunshots startled him.
He went on to say that right after his prayers, he reached out to his colleagues and was mobilised to the scene, emphasising that they discovered a bus abandoned by the roadside with no passengers inside.
He explained that this was when they discovered that some bus passengers had been kidnapped, and that he and his colleagues were still combing the forest for the gunmen and rescuing the victims.
As of the time of filing this report, DSP Williams Ovye Ayah, the spokesman for the Kogi State Police Command, had not responded to calls to confirm the incident.
