Travellers Kidnapped on Kogi Road

Suspected bandits launched an attack on Saturday, abducting several travelers along the Isanlu–Makutu–Idofin road in the Yagba East Local Government Area of Kogi State. The assailants set up a strategic roadblock, holding the major highway closed for hours.

Local residents reported that the armed gunmen stopped multiple vehicles before forcefully dragging passengers into the dense surrounding forest. The exact number of people taken remains unclear, fueling widespread fear in the community.

“We don’t know the exact number of people kidnapped,” a resident named Enimola Daramola told journalists. He added that the initial reports suggested about three vehicles ran directly into the ambush, with “almost everyone in them was taken, except one person.”

Daramola also confirmed that later in the evening, a combined force of soldiers and local vigilantes launched a pursuit. They bravely followed the attackers into the forest and exchanged gunfire with the bandits, an operation that reportedly led to the rescue of some of the kidnapped victims.

The spokesperson of the Kogi state Police Command, CSP William Aya, officially confirmed the details of the attack. He specified the number of occupants in one of the vehicles involved in the ambush.

Aya noted that one vehicle had three occupants. “One person, Raji Adesukami, managed to escape, while the other two were taken away by the kidnappers,” he stated, confirming at least two individuals remain missing from that vehicle alone.

The Police spokesperson added that the Commissioner of Police has deployed special police teams to the area. These forces include the Quick Response Unit, the Anti-Kidnapping Squad, and the Police Mobile Force, all tasked with rescuing the remaining victims and securing the volatile area from further attacks.