BEVERLY HILLS, December 04, (THEWILL) – The ever-busy Benin-Auchi highway yesterday came under attack as gunmen suspected to be kidnappers laid siege to the road and kidnapped a sizable number of persons travelling on the route.
Two persons were killed while over 20 others were abducted at gunpoint by the gunmen at Obagie community on the Benin-Ekpoma-Auchi road in Uhunmwonde Local Government Area of Edo State.
The dead victims of the attack included a member of the local vigilante group and one of the passengers on a commercial bus that was used to barricade the road by the gunmen.
THEWILL gathered that the gunmen were said to have first attacked a commercial bus at the Urhokosa/Obagie end of the road and took a number of the passengers into custody.
The suspected kidnappers who were said to be in groups, got a group to lead the first set of the victims to the bush, enroute the kidnappers’ den, while a second group caused the driver of the bus to use the vehicle to block the road.
A trailer driver, who saw the blockade and suspected that it might be for the sinister operation of the men of the underworld, was said to have refused to stop and rammed his articulated vehicle into the bus used in the blockade , killing two of the passengers.
Other vehicles which ran into the traffic jam, occasioned by the blockade, were attacked by another group of the kidnappers, who selected victims and marched them to join the earlier captured passengers.
A member of a vigilante group in the area, who acted bravely by confronting the gunmen, was shot dead by the kidnappers, according to a witness, who narrowly escaped into the bush
while the confusion reigned on the road as the gunmen operated without any challenge.
The escaped victim, who claimed that he had to abandon his vehicle to run into the bush, added that he met some other persons who also escaped in the bush, just as he said that the gunmen were shooting sporadically for a long time without any resistance from the security agents.
A source told newsmen that 10 persons were kidnapped and that security agents have been deployed to the area.
Benin-Auchi road had for a long time been a den of robbers, kidnappers and other criminal elements.
The command’s Police Public Relations officers, SP Chidi Nwanbuzor, who confirmed the incident, said “the command is aware of the kidnap, but we are yet to ascertain the number of passengers that were kidnapped.”
Meanwhile, the Ebonyi State Command of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) said it foiled a kidnap attempt and also rescued a victim from ‘one chance vehicle’ operators. The Sector Commander, Stella Uchegbu, said this in a statement yesterday.
Uchegbu said the Corps’ patrol team at Igbeagu, Izzi Local Government Area, rescued a female commuter, who unfortunately entered a ‘one-chance’ vehicle at Sharon Junction, Onuebeonyi.
“The team successfully rescued the lady who was held captive by the kidnappers in a Toyota Avensis car, heading for Ogoja in Cross River from Abakiliki.
“The team noticed that a woman was screaming for help inside the vehicle and dragging the steering with the driver. On sensing danger, the team pursued the vehicle and succeeded in rescuing the woman”, she said.
Uchegbu noted that the driver of the vehicle was arrested while the other occupants escaped.
“The patrol team also recovered the sum of N160,000, which the woman said the suspected kidnappers forcefully collected from her. The team took the suspect and the woman to the police headquarters in Abakaliki, while the money was returned to the woman.
“The vehicle used for the alleged operation was also handed over to the police”, she added.
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