Several members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) have been abducted by gunmen along the Aloma-Egane Expressway in Ofu Local Government Area of Kogi State.
The Kogi State Police Command, however, said 11 of the victims, including the drivers of the two buses involved, had been rescued.
The incident reportedly occurred on Wednesday at about 4:40pm around Ogene Zaria, near the Ogene Zaria/Onicha-Igo Junction.
The corps members were said to be travelling from the NYSC orientation camp in Kolokuma/Opokuma Local Government Area of Bayelsa State towards Abuja when the attackers emerged from the bush and blocked two buses travelling in opposite directions.
The gunmen reportedly abducted some of the passengers before fleeing into the bush.
Confirming the incident on Friday, the spokesperson for the Kogi State Police Command, Saliu Afusat, said security operatives immediately launched a rescue operation after receiving a distress call.
Afusat said the Divisional Police Officer in Ofu led a joint team of security personnel to the scene, where two abandoned vehicles were recovered.
The vehicles, she said, were a white Hummer bus belonging to Peace Mass Transit and a yellow 18-seater bus.
She said the security agencies subsequently commenced a coordinated bush-combing operation, which resulted in the rescue of 11 victims.
According to her, preliminary debriefing showed that most of those rescued were NYSC members travelling from Bayelsa State to Abuja.
The rescued victims were debriefed and, after the necessary procedures, were allowed to continue their journey, she added.
The police, however, did not disclose the total number of people abducted during the attack or confirm how many NYSC members might still be in captivity.
Afusat said security agencies were making efforts to establish the full circumstances of the incident and locate any remaining victims.
She added that the police and other security agencies had deployed “every available operational and intelligence resource” to rescue those still in captivity and apprehend the perpetrators.
The latest incident has renewed concerns over the safety of travellers and corps members using major highways in parts of Kogi State.
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