A terrifying ordeal happened along the Otukpo-Enugu Road in Benue State as armed men reportedly abducted around 45 passengers from three fully loaded 15-seater commercial buses in Orokam.
The assailants, heavily armed and emerging from the nearby forests, reportedly ambushed the buses around 3:30 p.m. on Thursday.
Eyewitnesses and a driver who narrowly escaped the ambush described the harrowing scene where armed men forced the drivers at gunpoint to bring the vehicles to a halt, leading to the abduction of the passengers.
The eyewitness, speaking to The Tribune, recounted the terrifying experience, saying, “The first person that came out of the bush was a heavily built young man who came out carrying an automatic rifle and a chain of bullets around his body.
“I saw three of them come out of the bush with guns; this was at about 3:30 p.m. on Thursday in broad daylight.
“Their target was obviously commercial buses, maybe because of the number of passengers that could harvest ransom for them. In this particular instance, they took passengers in three-loaded buses that were heading towards Otukpo
“My saving grace was that a J-5 articulated vehicle was in front of me. So when we were all stopped before they got to my vehicle, I jumped out and ran into the bush, and all my passengers also followed. Luckily, none of my passengers were caught by the armed men.
“We ran into the bush, leaving our valuables, including phones, and they did not touch them. All they were looking for were the occupants of the bus.
“They took all their victims into the forest. After hiding in the bush for close to 30 minutes, when we realised it was safe to come out, we started running back to our bus to flee.
“At that point, we saw soldiers on motorbikes and a Hilux van asking us where the armed went with the victims.
“This happened in between a police and army checkpoint in Orokam after the Trailer Park at the bad portion of the road.
“Since I started driving, I used to hear stories of people being kidnapped on the road. I saw it happening live, and I almost became a victim. I cannot thank God enough.”
Meanwhile, negotiations have begun between the armed men and the family members of the kidnapped passengers for their release.
The armed men initially demanded N15 million per passenger but settled for N3 million after negotiations.
A manager from a commercial transportation company revealed the families’ struggles with the negotiations, stating that while agreements were reached, communication was abruptly cut off.
The families, desperate for information, have been searching various parks for details about the buses involved in the incident.
As tension mounts, the police have not yet provided official information on the incident.
