TROOPS of the Nigerian Army have rescued 23 passengers abducted by suspected kidnappers on the Ayegunle-Bunu Road in Kabba-Bunu Local Council of Kogi State during an operation in the early hours of Monday, June 1.
The gunmen had killed two and abduct 30 travellers during the attack.
This was confirmed on Monday by spokesperson of the state Police Command, Saliu Oyiza, who explained that the victims included 26 men and four women, saying: “People were kidnapped, but there were 30 people who were kidnapped.
“Four of them are female, and 26 are male, and two people were also killed during the attack.”
The Nigerian Army headquarters, said on its official communication platform that the operation was initiated after troops received a distress call at about 3:30a.m. that armed men had barricaded the highway and abducted several travellers.
It said soldiers deployed within the Kabba area immediately mobilised to the scene and commenced a pursuit operation after the attackers fled before security forces arrived.
The victims were travelling in a commercial bus when they were intercepted by the terrorists while passing through the community, barely 24 hours after the Kogi State Government suspended the Echane festival in Ebiraland.
The government, in a statement on Saturday, May 30, by the Commissioner for Communications, Kingsley Fanwo, said the suspension followed “credible intelligence” suggesting that activities associated with the festival could endanger public peace and lead to a breakdown of law and order in parts of Kogi central senatorial district.
Fanwo said Governor Ahmed Ododo directed the suspension of the festival as a preventive security measure and instructed security agencies to enforce compliance, warning that any individual or group found organising or participating in activities connected to the festival would face legal consequences.
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