Once again, gunmen block Nigerian highway and abduct dozens of passengers
Dozens of passengers were abducted on Saturday when armed men believed to be herdsmen blocked the Enugu-Port Harcourt highway between Leru Junction and Ihube Community, a border between Imo and Imo states. Abia, in southeastern Nigeria.
The gunmen, numbering around 30, reportedly attacked three buses along the route and abducted all the passengers.
The attackers allegedly razed a military van and injured two soldiers who tried to confront them, before forcing all occupants of the three buses into a nearby bush, according to a report by the Vanguard newspaper.
Sources said the situation has instilled fear among locals.
Commuters reportedly mistook the gunmen for policemen setting up roadblocks.
Some of the commuters who got out of their vehicles to find out the cause of a traffic jam along the road, rushed to safety when the gunmen opened fire on the military van, a source said. young community leader.
He said some people were shot and injured as motorists fled, abandoning their vehicles.
Abia State Information Commissioner Chikamnayo Eze confirmed the attack.
He said, however, that the incident happened on the Imo State side of the highway.
Mr. Eze, who is the secretary of the Umunneochi security committee, recently inaugurated by Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State, to tackle growing insecurity in the area, requested more time to provide details on the attack.
“In Umunneochi proper, there has been a massive reduction in the number of such incidents, but they have migrated to the border between Umunneochi (Abia) and Imo states,” he said .
Abia State Police Spokesperson, Geoffery Ogbonna, did not respond to calls or a text message seeking comment.
Increase in kidnappingsKidnappings for ransom have increased in Abia State in recent times.
The latest incident occurred exactly one week after gunmen abducted travelers from Lokpanta, a community in the state's Umunneochi Local Government Area.
In mid-June, gunmen also abducted a journalist in Umuahia, the state capital. He was released about five days later after a ransom of N10 million was reportedly paid.
Earlier in June, Uwadinachi Iweha, a physician and provost of Gregory University College of Medicine, Umuahia campus, was also abducted.
He was taken by car as he was leaving his residence at Umuajameze Ezeleke Umuopara in the Umuahia South Council area of the state.
Mr. Iweha has not yet been released, nearly two months after his abduction.
In May, Samuel Kanu-Uche, the prelate of the Methodist Church in Nigeria, was kidnapped alongside two other priests, as they returned from a program in the Umunneochi local government area of the state.
The clerics were
Dozens of passengers were abducted on Saturday when armed men believed to be herdsmen blocked the Enugu-Port Harcourt highway between Leru Junction and Ihube Community, a border between Imo and Imo states. Abia, in southeastern Nigeria.
The gunmen, numbering around 30, reportedly attacked three buses along the route and abducted all the passengers.
The attackers allegedly razed a military van and injured two soldiers who tried to confront them, before forcing all occupants of the three buses into a nearby bush, according to a report by the Vanguard newspaper.
Sources said the situation has instilled fear among locals.
Commuters reportedly mistook the gunmen for policemen setting up roadblocks.
Some of the commuters who got out of their vehicles to find out the cause of a traffic jam along the road, rushed to safety when the gunmen opened fire on the military van, a source said. young community leader.
He said some people were shot and injured as motorists fled, abandoning their vehicles.
Abia State Information Commissioner Chikamnayo Eze confirmed the attack.
He said, however, that the incident happened on the Imo State side of the highway.
Mr. Eze, who is the secretary of the Umunneochi security committee, recently inaugurated by Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State, to tackle growing insecurity in the area, requested more time to provide details on the attack.
“In Umunneochi proper, there has been a massive reduction in the number of such incidents, but they have migrated to the border between Umunneochi (Abia) and Imo states,” he said .
Abia State Police Spokesperson, Geoffery Ogbonna, did not respond to calls or a text message seeking comment.
Increase in kidnappingsKidnappings for ransom have increased in Abia State in recent times.
The latest incident occurred exactly one week after gunmen abducted travelers from Lokpanta, a community in the state's Umunneochi Local Government Area.
In mid-June, gunmen also abducted a journalist in Umuahia, the state capital. He was released about five days later after a ransom of N10 million was reportedly paid.
Earlier in June, Uwadinachi Iweha, a physician and provost of Gregory University College of Medicine, Umuahia campus, was also abducted.
He was taken by car as he was leaving his residence at Umuajameze Ezeleke Umuopara in the Umuahia South Council area of the state.
Mr. Iweha has not yet been released, nearly two months after his abduction.
In May, Samuel Kanu-Uche, the prelate of the Methodist Church in Nigeria, was kidnapped alongside two other priests, as they returned from a program in the Umunneochi local government area of the state.
The clerics were
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