The Benue State Police Command has rescued 13 travellers abducted aboard a Benue Links passenger bus by gunmen along the Otukpo Burnt Bricks axis of Benue State on Thursday evening.
The victims were kidnapped following a deadly attack that claimed the lives of the bus driver and one passenger.
In a statement issued on Friday in Makurdi, the Command’s Public Relations Officer, SP Sewuese Anene, confirmed that the 14 victims were initially rescued during a joint operation between the Police and the State Civil Protection Guard, however of them succumbed to his injuries.
According to SP Anene, the incident occurred on Thursday, April 3, when the Benue Links vehicle was ambushed by armed assailants. “The bus was attacked around the Otukpo Burnt Bricks area, leading to the death of the driver and one passenger,” she said.
The attackers, she added, abducted 14 other passengers and took them into a nearby forest. “The command, in collaboration with the State Civil Protection Guard, rushed to the scene and found the driver and a passenger with gunshot injuries in the vehicle, while others were whisked away by the kidnappers,” Anene stated.
“The injured were conveyed to the hospital where they were confirmed dead by a doctor,” she added.
Anene noted that a manhunt was immediately launched in the surrounding forest. “On April 4, at about 1500hrs, they sighted the bandits in the forest and engaged them in a gun duel. The superior firepower of the police subdued them and they took to their heels, abandoning their captives,” she explained.
Tragically, two of the kidnapped passengers had been attacked with machetes before the rescue operation. “Fourteen victims were rescued and taken to the hospital, where one was confirmed dead and others are currently receiving treatment,” she said.
The Commissioner of Police, Mr Steve Yabanet, has since extended his condolences to the families of the deceased and assured the public that the perpetrators would be apprehended.
He also called on residents of Otukpo and surrounding communities to report any suspicious individuals with gunshot wounds. “Many of the bandits received gunshot injuries during the exchange of fire,” SP Anene quoted the Commissioner as saying.
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