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According to reports obtained by SaharaReporters, the victims were kidnapped on Saturday when the assailants ambushed their vehicle between Egbe and Eruku, a border community linking Kogi and Kwara states.
Gunmen suspected to be bandits have abducted nine passengers travelling from Isanlu Makutu in Yagba East Local Government Area of Kogi State to Ilorin, Kwara State.
According to reports obtained by SaharaReporters, the victims were kidnapped on Saturday when the assailants ambushed their vehicle between Egbe and Eruku, a border community linking Kogi and Kwara states.
Among those abducted were identified as Prophet and Prophetess Michaels, as well as Mrs. Iyabode Asubiojo.
Sources said the passengers were waylaid by the armed men, who reportedly shot sporadically to force the vehicle to a halt before whisking the victims into the forest.
However, the abduction adds to the growing concern over insecurity along the Kogi–Kwara highway, a route that has witnessed a series of kidnappings and armed attacks in recent months.
SaharaReporters previously reported that bandits once again struck along the Ilorin–Egbe highway, attacking a commercial bus travelling between Eruku and Egbe, a border area between Kwara and Kogi states.
A source who spoke to SaharaReporters had said the incident occurred on Saturday afternoon when the bus was ambushed by heavily armed assailants who suddenly emerged from the bush and opened fire on the vehicle.
According to the source, the attackers appeared in large numbers and began shooting directly at him.
In a video obtained by SaharaReporters, bullet holes were visible across the bus, with bloodstains on the driver’s side, indicating that he had been hit by a bullet during the assault.
It was gathered that the injured driver hails from Isanlu, while among the passengers were a man from Egbe and another yet-to-be-identified Hausa trader.
Residents of the area called on the Chairman of Yagba East Local Government Area to urgently collaborate with his counterpart in Yagba West to take decisive action against the rising wave of banditry along the Kwara–Kogi border.
