Eleven members of the National Youth Service Corps, have been rescued after gunmen abducted passengers travelling from Bayelsa State to Abuja in Kogi State.
Newsmaxng had reported earlier that 15 NYSC members returning from the Bayelsa orientation camp were reportedly abducted along the Kogi route.
The corps members were travelling to Abuja from camp when gunmen reportedly attacked two buses along the Aloma-Egane Expressway in Ofu Local Government Area of Kogi State on Wednesday.
According to the Kogi State Police Command, the incident occurred around 4:40pm near Ogene Zaria, close to the Ogene Zaria/Onicha-Igo Junction.
In a statement made available to TheCable on Friday, the Command’s spokesperson, Saliu Afusat, said the police received a distress call and immediately mobilised a joint security team to the area.
“Upon receipt of the distress call, the Divisional Police Officer, Ofu, led a joint security team to the scene, where two abandoned vehicles — a Peace Mass Transit white Hummer bus and a yellow 18-seater bus — were recovered,” Afusat said.
She said the security team subsequently launched a bush-combing operation which resulted in the rescue of 11 victims, including the drivers of the two vehicles.
“Preliminary debriefing indicates that most of the rescued victims are NYSC members travelling from Bayelsa State to Abuja,” she said.
The rescued victims were debriefed before they were allowed to continue their journey, according to the police.
The Command said the operation was still ongoing in the surrounding forest to locate other victims and apprehend the attackers.
“The joint security operation remains ongoing in the surrounding forest with the primary objectives of rescuing the remaining victims, apprehending the perpetrators and bringing them to justice,” Afusat said.
The police did not officially state how many people were initially taken by the attackers.
However, an earlier report by the Foundation for Investigative Journalism, based on information from a relative of one of the victims, said 15 NYSC members were abducted while travelling from Bayelsa to Abuja.
There have also been conflicting accounts about the condition of the drivers.
While one of the families had earlier reported that a driver was killed during the attack, an X user, Bijiano Obikwa, who shared videos of the two buses after the incident, disputed the claim.
According to Obikwa, the driver sustained an injury to his head and was taken to a hospital for treatment before being discharged.
In a video shared online, some of the passengers also recounted their experience, saying the attackers ordered them to leave the vehicle. One of the passengers was shot on the hand by the gunmen as seen in the video.
The development has left families of some of the corps members still seeking information about their loved ones on X (twitter).
One relative said her sister was among those taken and had been suffering from malaria since leaving the orientation camp. The family also claimed that the abductors were demanding ₦20m for her release. The ransom claim has not been confirmed by the police.
Another relative, Chisom Ede, appealed to the NYSC, Federal Government and security agencies to urgently intervene.
“My sister and other NYSC corps members who left Bayelsa State yesterday were attacked along the Kogi Express Road. Sadly, the driver was killed, and the corps members were reportedly taken into the forest,” Ede wrote in an appeal shared online.
She added, “Please, I am appealing to the NYSC, the Federal Government, security agencies, and everyone who can help to urgently intervene and do everything possible to rescue them safely.”
The families have continued to appeal for the government’s intervention, saying they are deeply concerned about the safety of those who have not been accounted for.
Meanwhile, the police said security personnel had deployed operational and intelligence resources to the area and would continue the search until the remaining victims were rescued and the perpetrators apprehended.