The residents said kidnapping activities in the Ochadamu flash point had increased after the army checkpoint in the area was dismantled.
All passengers in an 18-seater bus have been reportedly kidnapped at Anyigba-Itobe road in Ofu Local Government Area of Kogi State, reported Punch Newspaper.
The newspaper quoted an eyewitness who said that the incident happened around 4pm on Monday at the notorious kidnapping spot at Ochadamu area on the said highway.
The report quoted the source in the area as saying that the hoodlums in their numbers flagged down the said bus at gun point and evacuated the passengers to the bush.
The bus was said to be heading to Abuja from the eastern region of the country.
The locals further added that kidnapping activities in the Ochadamu flash point had increased after the army checkpoint in the area was dismantled.
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The security operatives, including the vigilantes in Ochadamu, were said to be making frantic efforts to rescue the kidnapped victims since the incident happened on Monday.
Navy Commander Jerry Omodara (retd), the state security adviser to Governor Yahaya Bello, who confirmed the incident on Thursday, however, said that the state government was on top of the case.
He stated that the state government has put enough measures in place to arrest the kidnappers and rescue the victims as well as stem the tide of criminal activities in the area.
Omodara said that since the hoodlums had resurfaced in the region, the government will rejig its measures and match fire to fire, assuring that the hoodlums will be neutralised shortly.
“We have fought them, we will fight them, and we will continue to fight them until they are neutralised in that axis of the state. Security agents have been alerted and they will do the needful,” he said.
He stated further that the government has zero tolerance for criminal activities in any part of the state, assuring that the tide of the such ugly incidents would be reduced and eliminated.