Troops of the Nigerian Army in collaboration with the police have rescued 25 of 33 passengers abducted by hoodlums on May 4 along the Kabbajunction-Obajana road in Lokoja, Kogi State.

A counter-insurgency expert focused on the Lake Chad region, Zagazola Makama, disclosed this in a post on his X handle yesterday.

Makama stated that he was reliably informed by sources that the victims, traveling in two Toyota Hiace buses, were intercepted by the hoodlums at the Gada Biyu area.

According to the report, one of the buses with registration number SMK 998 XQ was carrying 14 passengers from Abuja to Lagos, while the other had 19 passengers travelling from Kano to Ekiti State.

The vehicles were forcefully stopped by the armed assailants who abducted all the passengers and took them into the bush.

During the attack, the yet-to-beidentified driver of the second bus sustained a gunshot wound and was rushed to the Federal Medical Centre in Lokoja for treatment.

However, upon receiving a distress call, a joint patrol team comprising of the Nigerian Army, the police and local vigilantes were swiftly dispatched to the scene.

The joint security forces engaged the hoodlums in a gun duel, resulting in the abandonment of 25 of the victims as the criminals fled.

The rescued passengers were brought to the police station unharmed. “Efforts to locate the hideout of the criminals and rescue the remaining victims have been intensified,” Makama added.