By; ADAMA JOHN, Lokoja
An unspecified number of commuters in an 18-seater bus ambushed by a group of armed assailants suspected to be kidnappers were hauled away to an unknown location in Chadamu in Ofu Local Government Area of Kogi State at gun point Monday.
According to reports, happening in Ochadamu, which is located along the Anyigba-Itobe route in the Ofu Local Government Area LGA of Kogi State, eye witnesses said that the event took place on Monday about four o’clock at a dangerous stretch on the highway mostly dominated by kidnappers and armed robbers.
Information obtained by reporters from credible sources within the surrounding areas, point to an unspecified group of armed assailants stopping the bus, while brandishing their scary firearms to the wildest consternation of their victims.
They passengers were immediately directed to disembark from the vehicle before hauling them into the nearby forest.
The residents within the vicinity said that the reoccurrence of kidnap cases near the Ochadamu route has significantly decreased in the past, but increased once again after an army checkpoint in the region was demolished as a result of a deadly road accident that occured recently on the highway.
Efforts by security operatives as well as some local hunters from the surrounding communities to rescue the victims have not yielded any meaningful results as at the time of this report.
In the meantime, an ex-Navy commander has assured that the steps taken by the state government is curbing the illegal activities in the notorious area.
Government, he said, will surely put in more efforts to fight the menace, assuring the people that the criminals would surely meet their waterloo.
“We have fought them; we will fight them; and we will continue to fight them until they are neutralised in that axis of the state. Security agents have been alerted and they will do the needful”, he affirmed.
However, efforts by newsmen to reach the state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), SP William Aya, proved abortive as he neither picked calls nor responded to text messages.
