Saturday, November 29, 2025 -The Nigerian Army has confirmed the rescue of 21 passengers abducted along Obajana-Oshokoshoko road in Lokoja Local Government Area of Kogi State.
The Acting Assistant Director, Army Public Relations of the 12
Brigade Nigerian Army, Lokoja, Lt Hassan Abdullahi, confirmed the development
on Saturday while responding to inquiries on the attack.
Suspected bandits had attacked travellers on the Osokoko–Obajana
highway, abducting passengers from several vehicles.
Eyewitnesses said a commercial 18-seater bus and other vehicles
were involved in the attack.
The assailants reportedly blocked the said road at about 2.30pm,
siezed vehicles thet ran into their barricade and forcefully abducted the
passengers into the bush before security operatives arrived.
However, Lt Abdullahi said the twenty one (21) passengers were
rescued after troops of the brigade, in collaboration with vigilantes, hunters
and other security operatives, engaged the kidnappers in a fierce exchange of
gunfire.
He added that the operations were ongoing to rescue the remaining
victims and apprehend the perpetrators.
A brother of one of the kidnap victims, who asked not to be named,
said his younger brother was travelling from Owo in Ondo State to Abuja when
the vehicle was ambushed a few kilometres from Obajana town.
He added that abductors later called to demand N40 million as
ransom.
“I received a call on Friday from my brother’s abductors demanding
N40 million for his release. He was coming to Lokoja to inform our mother about
my traditional wedding scheduled for next Friday.”
Eyewitnesses said several vehicles were attacked, including Toyota
Hiace bus (7BGT-78LG) with passengers from Owo, Ondo State to Abuja; Toyota
Siena with registration number YAB 968 AX from Oshogbo to Kaduna; Toyota Carina
(JMU 648 AA) from Lokoja to Kabba and Toyota Hiace (GKP 178 XA) from Abuja to
Ekiti State, among others.
According to a source, eight of the rescued passengers belonged to
two biological families, and two drivers of the ill-fated journey were also
freed.
“Two families lost four members each in the incident and all were
rescued. Two drivers, a truck driver and a bus driver, were also among those
freed,” the source said.
Meanwhile, Kogi State Governor, Usman Ahmed Ododo, has vowed to
take the fight to criminal hideouts rather than wait for attacks on highways
and communities.
Speaking at an emergency meeting with security agencies and
traditional rulers at the Government House in Lokoja on Thursday, the governor
said intelligence reports showed that some top bandit leaders had relocated to
the state in recent days.
He assured that security agencies had tracked key commanders and
that decisive action would be taken.
“The major commandeers of the bandits have relocated to Kogi State
for the past three days. We will not wait for them to fight us; we will take
the fight to them.
“We are not going to bow to the criminals, we are not going to
negotiate with them, we are not going to pay ransom, but we are going to
sensitise our people to be security conscious of their activities,” the
governor said.
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