12 abducted Ondo passengers rescued

The police and hunters in Ondo State have rescued 12 passengers abducted by suspected kidnappers in Isua Akoko, the headquarters of Akoko South-East Local Government Area of the state.

This was disclosed on Saturday in a statement by the spokesperson for the Ondo State Police Command, Abayomi Jimoh.

He said the victims were kidnapped in the early hours of Saturday (yesterday) while travelling in two commercial Hummer buses from Benue State to Ibadan.

“The command received a distress report at about 0130hrs that two commercial Hummer buses conveying passengers from Benue State en route Ibadan had been violently intercepted by suspected armed kidnappers. The attackers reportedly forced several passengers out of the vehicles and marched them into a nearby forest,” he said.

Jimoh explained that the police immediately launched a coordinated rescue operation following the report.

“Following the report, the police immediately activated a coordinated rescue operation as operatives of the Command, alongside local hunters and other security stakeholders, were swiftly mobilised to the scene with the primary objective of rescuing the victims and apprehending the perpetrators,” he stated.

According to him, the combined rescue team commenced an intensive bush-combing operation across the surrounding forests and difficult terrains where the victims were believed to have been taken, while intelligence-led surveillance and strategic tracking efforts were intensified to trail the fleeing suspects and facilitate the rescue of the remaining victims.

He added, “The sustained pressure mounted by the combined security team yielded significant success as 12 kidnapped victims, including the drivers of the affected buses, were successfully rescued alive.”

The police spokesman stated that the rescued victims had been taken to the hospital for medical attention and support, while arrangements were being made to reunite them with their families.

Jimoh said efforts were ongoing to rescue the remaining victims and bring the perpetrators to justice, adding that the state Commissioner of Police, Felix Ohagwu, had personally visited the scene of the incident.

He said the commissioner held strategic engagements with community heads, local vigilante groups and other stakeholders in the area, adding that additional tactical and intelligence assets had been deployed to reinforce the ongoing rescue and manhunt operations.