Kogi: NYSC members abducted by gunmen, 11 rescued

Members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) were kidnapped by gunmen along the Aloma-Egane Expressway in Ofu Local Government Area of Kogi State on Wednesday.

Speaking on the abduction, the police confirmed that 11 of the corps members had been rescued after an operation was launched immediately after a distress call was received.

The victims were reportedly travelling from the NYSC orientation camp in Kolokuma/Opokuma Local Government Area of Bayelsa State when they were ambushed by gunmen who attacked their vehicles.

The Spokesperson for the Kogi State Police Command, Saliu Afusat, revealed that the operation led to the rescue of 11 abducted victims, including the drivers of the two buses involved in the incident.

Afusat added that preliminary debriefing showed that most of the rescued victims were NYSC members travelling from Bayelsa State to Abuja.

Speaking further, she disclosed that the kidnapping occurred at about 4:40 pm around Ogene Zaria, near the Ogene Zaria/Onicha-Igo Junction, with the gunmen emerging from the bush, blocking two buses going in opposite directions and abducting some passengers.

“Upon receipt of the distress call, the Divisional Police Officer, Ofu, led a joint security team to the scene, where two abandoned vehicles, a Peace Mass Transit white Hummer bus and a yellow 18-seater bus, were recovered,” Afusat stated.

She concluded by sharing that the police and other security agencies had deployed “every available operational and intelligence resource” to locate and rescue the remaining victims and arrest the perpetrators.