Kogi Police Confirm Kidnap Of 14 Passengers Travelling From South East To Abuja
Suspected kidnappers on Saturday, February 3, hijacked God is Good Motors and ABC transport buses heading to Abuja from Kogi State, and kidnapped the 14 passengers in both commercial buses.
The incident occurred on the Kogi State axis of the Abuja expressway.
A social media influencer, Chude Nnamdi, on Sunday, February 4, via his X handle, raised alarm over the incident.
“#Breakingnews: The reporting reaching me this morning is that a GIG & ABC transport buses heading to Abuja were hijacked by Kidnappers yesterday in Kogi
state.
He added the post made by someone who said his wife was one of those kidnapped in the GIG bus and that the kidnappers had demanded a ransom of N15 million.
“Kindly assist raise awareness about the hijack of GIG bus by Gunmen at Kogi yesterday and unfortunately my wife was in that bus. The GIG bus left Umuahia at 7.30 am and was hijacked at Kogi State. GIG company said they have contacted security services and they are tracking them. The kidnappers phoned this morning via my wife’s phone and were demanding N15M. Kindly assist create awareness on social media. it said
Apparently, the incident took place around 3pm, along Olamaboro LGA, after one of the sharp road bends, some distance away from the police checkpoint. Both buses were 5minutes in front of us. Only GIGM driver escaped, but with lots of actively bleeding cuts on his body. It was really scary yesterday. That spot is not really far from the boundary between Olamaboro and Enugu State.”
In a swift response to the abduction, the Commissioner of Police, Kogi State Police Command, CP Bethrand Onuoha, deployed a tactical team to rescue the victims.Confirming the incident to LIB, the spokesperson of Kogi State police command, SP. William Ovye Aya, said:
“Yes, the incident happened on Inele Eteke Ogugu new road in Olamaboro, it involved God is Good Motors with 12 passengers and ABC Sienna Bus with 2 passengers. But the DPO, Local Vigilantes and Hunters have been in the bush in an effort to rescue the victims.
“CP has equally deployed an additional Tactical Squad consisting of a Quick
Response Unit, a Police Mobile Force, a Couter-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 driver of the God is Good Motors was later rescued”.
Narrating his ordeal as a result of the
kidnapping of his wife, a middle-aged man (names withheld) disseminated the information about the ugly incident on social media. According to him, “I tried to message you on X and IG, but none went through, so I decided to send you a mail.
“Kindly assist in raising awareness about the hijacking of a bus by gunmen at Kogi yesterday, and unfortunately, my wife was in that bus.
“The bus left Umuahia at 7:30a.m. and was hijacked in Kogi State. The company said they have contacted security services, and they are tracking them.
“The kidnappers called this morning via
my wife’s phone and were demanding
N15 million. Kindly assist in creating
awareness on social media.
“This development has sent shivers
down the spines of road users, as they
are now afraid of being victims of the
activities of kidnappers within the
Kogi/Abuja expressway. However, many
road users are optimistic that with the
level of mobilization by security
agencies, the victims will be rescued and
the suspects arrested.”
