Six persons including two serving members of the National Youth Service Corps and four ex-corps members, are feared missing when gunmen attacked six Hummer buses carrying officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission in Kogi State.
The incident, which occurred around 2 am on Sunday, March 19, 2023, at Obajana, left several officials with gunshot wounds, including policemen and drivers.
The injured persons are already on admission at the Federal Medical Centre, now Federal University Teaching Hospital, Lokoja.
Salisu Ibrahim, one of the bus drivers, who was shot in his right leg, and recuperating at the hospital, told NAN that the attackers took them by surprise.
“We were on our way back to Lokoja from Abujor RAC with the results of the House of Assembly election held there when we were attacked by some people. All the six buses moving in a convoy were attacked, and in the process, many of us sustained injuries.” he narrated.
The spokesperson of the State Police Command, SP Williams Aya, who confirmed the attack in a statement, said 96 INEC staff members were rescued.
According to him, the incident happened when the INEC team was on their way from Kupa North and South Wards to the constituency collation centre in Lokoja.
“The police escort attached to the team responded robustly and engaged the hoodlums in a fierce gun duel,” the PPRO stated.
He noted that on receipt of a distress call, reinforcement teams were promptly mobilised and sent to the scene which equally engaged the attackers, noting that owing to the superior fire power of the police, the attackers were forced to flee with varying degrees of injuries.
He said the Commissioner of Police in charge of elections in Kogi State, CP Yekini Ayoku, led a rescue team to the scene for an on-the-spot assessment and later led the evacuation of the 96 rescued victims comprising INEC officials, ad hoc staff, bus drivers, and others to the INEC headquarters in Lokoja, while the three injured victims were evacuated to the Federal Medical Centre, Lokoja, for treatment.
The spokesman said the Commissioner of Police accordingly ordered the deployment of operational and tactical assets of the Force to embark on thorough combing of the general area with a view to apprehending the attackers and to rescuing the two victims yet to be accounted for.
“The CP further tasked the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Criminal Investigation Department, to commence thorough investigation with a view to apprehending the miscreants and bringing them to deserved justice.”
The Commissioner of Police, while commending the gallantry displayed by the men of the Force, urged members of the public, particularly the adjoining communities, to be on the lookout and report anybody seen with bullet wounds to the nearest security formation or agencies.
He assured the public that the police would not rest on their laurels in the fight against criminality in state,” Aya added.
