Police rescue 13 abducted passengers in Benue

In Benue State, Nigeria, police have rescued an additional 13 passengers who were abducted along the Otukpo–Adoka road while traveling from Enugu to Abuja. This brings the total number of victims rescued from the kidnapping incident to 18. The victims were found at Amla-Icho Forest in Otukpo Local Government Area, after five days of ongoing search and rescue efforts by police and local security personnel.

DSP Peter Aondongu, the Police Public Relations Officer, revealed that the rescue operation began at around 2am on Thursday, following credible intelligence leading police to the kidnappers and their victims in the forest. The kidnappers fled during the night, abandoning the victims, who were rescued unharmed.

The operation followed a gun battle on August 16, during which one of the kidnappers was neutralized. Police recovered an AK-47 rifle and five rounds of live ammunition from the scene. Efforts are ongoing to locate and arrest the remaining suspects.

Aondongu noted discrepancies in the passenger manifest, as initially only nine victims were listed after five had been rescued earlier. Further verification, however, confirmed that four additional passengers were not mentioned in the initial report, raising the total rescued to 13.

The rescued individuals were taken to a medical facility for treatment before being transported to their destinations in a chartered bus. Commissioner of Police, Cletus Nwadiogbu, praised the bravery and resilience of the police operatives and emphasized the importance of accurate passenger manifests for future emergency situations.