Armed men suspected to be kidnappers, have reportedly abducted passengers in two different Toyota buses along Itobe-Ajegwu-Anyigba Road, in Ofu Local Government Area of Kogi State.

It was gathered that the incident occurred on Thursday around 5 am between Ojiwo’-Ajengo and Mamereboh villages along the highway.

The kidnappers were said to have used an intercepted trailer to block the road after a security checkpoint located near the scene of the incident.

Eyewitnesses said one of the buses, with registration number KG: KPA 622LG, was heading towards Abuja, with passengers from a motor park in Ankpa community in Kogi East.

A resident of Achigili, in the neighbouring village, Unubi Ademu, said, “It’s not easy to determine the number of passengers involved in the kidnapping yet. We could only establish that one of the buses was carrying passengers from an Ankpa community, as revealed by some scattered documents and other belongings found at the scene of the incident.

“The two buses were heading towards Abuja when they ran into the barricade mounted by the hoodlums in the early hours of Thursday. All the passengers, including drivers of the two buses, were whisked into the criminals’ hide-out in the bush.”

Locals disclosed further that security operatives, including soldiers, hunters and vigilantes, swung into action immediately after receiving news of the incident.

According to an eye witness who simply identified himself as Evangelist James, a resident of a community along the Itobe-Ajegwu-Anyigba highway, security operatives had since launched an operation to rescue the victims.

“We saw men in military uniforms driving furiously through our village towards the area. A brother told me on the phone that security operatives, vigilantes and hunters are already trailing their abductors in the bush in a bid to rescue the victims and arrest their abductors.”

The Kogi state Police Command’s Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), CSP William Aya, did not respond to calls and text when contacted as of the time of filing this report. (Daily Trust)