Gunmen open fire on commercial bus in Kogi, abduct passengers
Gunmen reportedly attacked an 18-seater bus on Wednesday, July 20, at Ochonyi-Omoko village along the Abuja-Lokoja highway in Kogi State.
Benjamin Isaac, a passenger who escaped, told Daily Trust that the incident happened around 8:03 pm.
Isaac said the attackers hid in the bush, and opened fire on the bus, deflating the back tyres in the process. He said;
“They opened fire on back tyres which forced the driver to lose control. When the driver veered off the road, the gunmen came out of hiding and ordered all the passengers to come out. They led us into the bush at gunpoint.”
The passenger who revealed that he escaped and other passengers hid in the bush, said he boarded the bus by the roadside in Zuba while traveling to Okpella, Edo State.
A vigilante member, who preferred anonymity, told Daily Trust they were performing ablution ahead of Isha’i prayers when he heard gunshots.
He said;
“It was immediately after my prayers I reached out to my colleagues and mobilized to the scene, where we discovered a bus abandoned by the roadside without passengers inside.”
He said he later discovered that some passengers from the bus were abducted. The vigilante member said he and his colleagues are still combing the forest to trace the gunmen and rescue the victims.
