Gunmen abduct 12 bus passengers, others on East-West road
No fewer that 12 passengers in a bus belonging to popular transport company were on Wednesday abducted by Gunmen along the Ovwodokpokpo axis of East-West road , between Ekreravwen Junction and Urhobo House in Agbarho in Ughelli North Local Government Area, LGA of Delta State.
This came as occupants of a Mercedes Benz car, a tricycle operator, (Keke NAPEP) and his passengers, and occupants of a Toyota Sienna vehicle were reportedly whisked away by the hoodlums.
An eye witness said that several vehicles were trapped on the road as the kidnappers whisked away their victims.
He explained that the gunmen who laid ambush in the bush, suddenly emerged from the bush and started shooting sporadically saying the “kidnappers just took some persons hostage at about 6pm under the railway bridge after a filling station in Agbarho, Delta State.
‘The Keke NAPEP with its entire passengers, a fully loaded bus with all the passengers including the driver, one Sienna and another red car and all the occupants were kidnapped and taken into the bush along Ughelli-Warri Highway”.
It was however gathered that one of the abductees in the bus escaped from his abductors.
Some of the victims were said to have sustained various degrees of injuries during the incident that lasted for close to 30 minutes.
The gunmen were however repelled by some team of policemen drafted from the Agbarho police station located 10 minutes drive from the scene of the incident who mobilised and engaged the hoodlums in a shootout, forcing them to flee into the bush with their victims.
Giving update of the escape of the victims, a security source disclosed that from information, those in the custody of the kidnappers were 11 excluding him.
The source said, after they were abducted and taken to the bush, they were kept till 3am (yesterday) before they were taken to another location through the main road. According to him, it was while they were being taken to the abductors’ base that he escaped.
“He was able to run to Beta Glass Company and identified himself , after which he was taken to the Chief Security Officer of the company who subsequently called the DPO of Agbarho police station, who came and took him away.
Confirming the incident when contacted, the State Police Public Relations Officer, Onome Onowakpoyeya, said one person was injured during the incident and some cars damaged.
“The police cannot ascertain how many persons were kidnapped. The kidnappers have only made call to one person (one woman’s husband). Several persons were kidnapped but we cannot ascertain the number for now.