All passengers in an 18-seater bus have been reportedly
kidnapped at Anyigba-Itobe road in Ofu Local Government Area of Kogi State.
An eyewitness stated that the incident happened around 4pm
on Monday at the notorious kidnapping spot at Ochadamu area on the said
highway.
Our reporter learnt from a competent source in the area that
the hoodlums in their numbers flagged down the said bus at gun point and
evacuated the passengers to the bush.
The bus was said to be heading to Abuja from the eastern
region of the country.
The locals further added that kidnapping activities in the
Ochadamu flash point had increased after the army check point in the areas was
dismantled.
The security operatives, including the vigilantes in the
area, were said to be making frantic efforts to rescue the kidnapped victims
since the incident happened on Monday.
Navy Commander Jerry Omodara (retd), the state security
adviser to governor Yahaya Bello, who confirmed the incident on Thursday,
however, said that the state government was on top of the case.
He stated that the state government has put enough measures
in place to arrest the kidnappers and rescue the victims as well as stem the
tide of criminal activities in the area.
Omodara said that since the hoodlums had resurfaced in the
region, the government will rejig its measures and match fire to fire, assuring
that the hoodlums will be neutralised shortly.
“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 said.
He stated further that the government has zero-tolerance to
criminal activities in any part of the state, assuring that the tide of such
ugly incident would be reduced and eliminated.