The Kogi State Police Command has announced the successful rescue of four passengers who were abducted on the Anyigba–Ankpa highway on Sunday.
In a statement released on February 2, the police confirmed that the divisional police officer (DPO) in Egume received a distress call around 6:00 pm about two abandoned vehicles on the road.
Security operatives were immediately dispatched to the scene, where they discovered a grey Hyundai Sonata with Abuja registration number YAB821ES and a grey Toyota Camry with Kano registration number DKD137AA.
According to Zagazola Makama, a counter-insurgency publication focused on the Lake Chad region, the vehicles had been traveling from Anyigba to Ankpa when the assailants ambushed the highway.
The attackers fired sporadically into the air, kidnapped the passengers, and fled into the bush with their captives.
At the scene, investigators recovered nine spent AK-47 shells, and the area was documented for forensic analysis.
In response to the distress, the Egume DPO quickly coordinated a bush combing operation and intelligence gathering, which led to the rescue of four victims.
The rescued individuals were identified as Cletus Chen, his wife Joy Cletus, and their two children, who had been traveling in the Toyota Camry.
However, three other passengers remain missing, and the police have confirmed that an investigation is underway.
“The command has obtained statements from the rescued victims. Investigation has commenced, while bush combing and intelligence operations continue with the aim of rescuing the remaining victims and apprehending the perpetrators,” a police spokesperson said.
This incident adds to the growing wave of highway kidnappings in Kogi. Just days earlier, on Friday, five people were reportedly killed, and several others were abducted in a similar attack on a commercial bus along the Oshokoshoko/Agbede highway, near a military checkpoint in Kogi.
The police have intensified their search efforts as they work to curb the rise in such incidents.
