Vigilantes foil kidnap attempt along Abuja-Lokoja road

An attempt by gunmen suspected to be kidnapers to abduct travellers was at weekend foiled by some members of the vigilante group near Adabo village, along Abuja-Lokoja road. A member of the vigilante group, who preferred anonymity, said the gunmen suddenly emerged from the bush in order to flag down vehicles on the highway but […]

An attempt by gunmen suspected to be kidnapers to abduct travellers was at weekend foiled by some members of the vigilante group near Adabo village, along Abuja-Lokoja road.

A member of the vigilante group, who preferred anonymity, said the gunmen suddenly emerged from the bush in order to flag down vehicles on the highway but the vigilante members went after them.

He said the vigilante members engaged the gunmen in a shoot-out with their locally made guns, which he said forced the kidnappers to flee into the bush.

“They actually came out around 10:am on Saturday, in order to kidnap travellers. When we got the information, we went after them and engaged them in a shoot-out as they heard the sound of our gun shot, they fled into the bush,” he said.

A motorist, who simply identified himself as Francis, said his vehicle almost ran into the kidnappers before they fled into the bush.

“I was actually conveying passengers from Lokoja to Zuba when I sighted the gunmen some metres away. As I attempted to reverse, some vigilante men  engaged them, ” he said.

Gunmen have been terrorising travellers and villagers along the highway.

The spokesman of the Kogi State Police Command, DSP Williams Aya, did not pick calls or respond to text messages sent to his phone as at the time of filling this report.