THE Police Command has confirmed the abduction of at least 20 National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members along the Owerri-Onitsha Road.
A woman whose twin daughters are due for the one year mandatory National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme has narrated the action taken by one of the girls who was abducted in Imo State, on Thursday.
Media reports that several travellers, including corps members heading for orientation camps, were abducted after gunmen attacked two commercial buses on the Owerri-Onitsha Expressway in Mbaitoli Local Government Area of Imo State.
The incident occurred around the Umunoha axis of the highway.
Some NYSC members travelling from Ibadan to orientation camps in the South-East and South-South are believed to have been abducted.
A woman, who appealed for help in a video shared online, said her twin daughter, identified as Kehinde, was among a group of corps members travelling from Samonda in Ibadan.
According to her, Kehinde left Ibadan at about 9am on Wednesday with other corps members and spent the night at a location in Imo State before continuing the journey early Thursday.
She said her daughter sent a message reading “kidnapper” to the family’s WhatsApp group shortly after 6am and also made an attempt to call, after which her phone became unreachable.
The woman said the group was travelling in three vehicles, but one reportedly escaped while passengers in the other two were allegedly taken away.
She added that the family later received a video showing the vehicle, while reports from the scene indicated that passengers and drivers had been taken into the bush.
“Since past 6am, I have not been able to hear from my child, and we couldn’t get her exact location anymore. Please, federal government, help us. I only have the two of them,” she appealed.
She said Kehinde’s twin sister, Taiwo, had already arrived in Enugu for her NYSC camp.
According to eyewitness accounts and videos circulating online, the attackers intercepted the buses, robbed the passengers of their belongings before marching them into a nearby bush.
The two vehicles were reportedly travelling from the Lagos direction towards Anambra when they came under attack.
A source familiar with the incident said the buses were caught in slow-moving traffic around the area, providing an opportunity for the attackers to strike.
“Many people were kidnapped. They usually launch attacks when cattle are crossing the road because they know vehicles will slow down,” the source said.
The exact number of passengers abducted remained unclear as of the time of filing this report.
A video from the scene showed the two buses abandoned on the highway, with several residents and other road users gathered around the vehicles.
One of the buses was identified as belonging to Uko Akwa Ibom Motors with the number Uko/133.
Another eyewitness, speaking in one of the videos, claimed that the attackers took passengers from both buses into the bush after robbing them.
“Today 1st of October, armed gunmen att@cked, r0bbed and k!dnapp£d passengers travelling from Lagos at the Owerri road to Anambra expressway. They also abducted several passengers inside 2 full buses”
“Good morning, my fellow Nigerians. I am reporting from the Owerri-Onitsha Road. This happened this morning. Fulani herdsmen and bandits robbed two vehicles coming from Lagos. They took all the passengers into the bush,” the eyewitness said.
“The police came this morning, and the army has already entered the bush to see if they can rescue the victims. They kidnapped all the passengers in the two 18-seater buses”, he said.
He urged people to contact their loved ones to check if they were safe.
“I don’t know what is going on in this South-East. They robbed all the passengers and thereafter took them into the bush. I feel bad. This thing can happen to anyone,” the eyewitness added.
In the video, several youths gathered at the scene as the two buses lay empty on the road. Vehicles and trucks were also seen lined up behind the barricade.
The reports could not independently establish the number of people taken away or whether all passengers aboard the two buses were abducted.
The latest incident has heightened concerns over the safety of travellers along the busy highway, coming amid previous reports of kidnapping attacks on major roads in the South-East.
As of the time of filing this report, the Imo State Police Command had not issued an official statement confirming the latest attack.
The command’s spokesperson, DSP Henry Okoye, was also yet to respond to calls and messages seeking clarification on the incident.