Kidnapping Shock: Over 10 Road Travelers from Abuja to Enugu Taken Hostage in Southeast Nigeria

More than 10 passengers traveling from Abuja to Enugu were reportedly kidnapped along the Ette – Umuopu Enugu-Ezike Road. The incident unfolded a short distance from the Umuopu community in the Igbo Eze North local government area of Enugu State.

The victims were aboard a Peace Mass Transit van with fleet number 583, as seen in a video obtained by Anyika TV on Thursday. The footage depicted the van parked in the middle of the road with open doors and shattered windows, while scattered goods belonging to the passengers lay on the ground and inside the vehicle.

A male voice in the video revealed that the attack had just occurred, and only one passenger managed to escape the clutches of the kidnappers. The narrator stated that the engine of the vehicle was still running, emphasizing that all abducted passengers, along with the bus driver, had been taken into the nearby bush by the assailants.

Despite the swift response of some soldiers to the scene, the narrator mentioned that they had not yet entered the bush to initiate a rescue operation.

“The vehicle has passed the market near the express; it remains a short distance to the express where this happened. It is close to Umuopu but has not reached the community. Some soldiers have arrived, but they have not entered the bush,” the narrator explained in pidgin English.

Meanwhile, the Enugu State Police have maintained silence on the incident, and attempts to obtain comments from the Command’s spokesperson, DSP Daniel Ndukwe, proved unsuccessful. Calls to Ndukwe went unanswered, and a text message seeking his comment on the abduction yielded no response at the time of filing this report.