Kogi: Gunmen hold on to six kidnapped travelers, demand N60m ransom

File: Gunmen


Richard Elesho

Five days after their abduction, Gunmen are still holding to six persons they whisked away last Saturday at Ochadamu, in Ofu Local Government Area of Kogi. The abductors are demanding a ransom of N10 million for each of the victims.

The victims were on their way to Lagos from Gboko when the commercial vehicle they boarded encountered the evil men. They opened fire on the bus to force it to a halt, after which they robbed the passengers.

As if dispossessing them of their properties was not enough, the gunmen led six of the passengers to the bush. The victims were made up of a pregnant woman, some corps members and an orphan.

Driver of the Benue Links vehicle, Emmanuel Owoicho, spoke to newsmen on the matter.

“On Saturday I was traveling to Lagos. So, after Ayangba, the place is called Ochadamu junction. On reaching there around after 4pm, I saw some men coming out from the bush and started shooting at us.

“I wanted to go ahead but later I realized that if I do that, they will riddle the bus with bullets so, I parked. Many others came from the bush and started robbing us. They collected our money, phones, everything we had they collected.

“Then they asked us to lie on the road but on sighting a trailer on high speed approaching, the leader of the robbers asked us to get up and stay by the roadside. He now asked six persons to follow him, three men and three female into the bush. I called back my passengers and we got to a Naval check point and reported the incident to them.

“After over 30 to 40 minutes search, the Naval Officers came back to say they could not find the kidnappers. The next day, I went to the Police Station in Ayingba to formally report the incident and they instructed me to go.

“I then took the remaining passengers back to Gboko. I had left Gboko by after 10 am on that Saturday and got to that junction at about 4pm.

“I picked 13 passengers from Gboko on that day and they kidnapped six. They collected the sum of N42, 000 from me.

“The kidnappers are demanding for N10 million as ransom from those kidnapped but their families are negotiating between N750,000 and N450,000. There is an orphan girl whose family said they only have N80,000.”