Gunmen Abduct 35 Passengers in Separate Attacks Along Akwa Ibom-Cross River Waterways and in Benue

At least 15 passengers were abducted by gunmen on Thursday along the Adoka-Naka Road in Gwer West Local Government Area of Benue State.

According to reports, the incident occurred when two commercial vehicles travelling in opposite directions were intercepted near Naka town, just three kilometres from the community centre.

Yakubu Onu, secretary of the Nigeria Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) in charge of the High-Level Unit in Makurdi, told ChannelsTv that a vehicle heading from Makurdi to Lokoja via the Naka-Adoka route was ambushed, with six of the nine passengers on board taken into the surrounding bush by the attackers.

Another vehicle, coming from Ankpa in Kogi State and heading to Makurdi, was also attacked around the same location. All eight passengers in the second vehicle were reportedly abducted, while the driver and three other passengers, who were spared, later reported the incident at the Naka Police Station.

The police asked the survivors to continue their journey, but we haven’t heard from them since,” Onu said. “We also don’t have updates from the passengers en route from Ankpa.”

Daniel Abomtse, the Ter Tyoshin (traditional ruler) of Gwer West, corroborated the report, stating that the abductors hijacked two commercial buses—a picnic bus and a Sharon bus—before disappearing into the nearby bush with their victims. He added that police have since released the few passengers who were not taken.

Benue State Police Command spokesperson, Sewuese Anene, said she was yet to be briefed on the incident.

This latest attack is part of a worrying trend of escalating violence in Benue State. In recent weeks, over 60 people have been killed in a wave of gunmen assaults across various communities.

Governor Hyacinth Alia described the perpetrators as “foreign elements” speaking unfamiliar languages and warned that the threat now facing the state is more dangerous than the long-standing farmer-herder conflict.

In a related incident, gunmen suspected to be pirates abducted 20 passengers from a boat travelling along the Akwa Ibom-Cross River waterways. The incident occurred on April 18 while the boat was en route from Oron in Akwa Ibom State to Cross River State.

According to the manifest seen by our reporter, the boat is owned by a private transport company called Akwa Cross Boat Management Ltd,” PremiumTimes reported.

Read Also: Stephen Akintayo Advertises $18,000 Mentorship Programme Amid Multiple Fraud Allegations

About The Author

Oluwasegun Sanusi

author

See author's posts