Gunmen have demanded N10 million as ransom to free six travelers abducted from a Benue Link bus traveling from Gboko to Lagos last Saturday at Ochadamu, in Ofu Local Government Area of Kogi State.
The gunmen had opened fire on the bus to force it to a halt, after which they first robbed all the passengers and later whisk six of them away into the forest.
It was gathered that a pregnant woman, a corps members and an orphan were among those taken away by the gunmen.
Driver of the Benue Links vehicle, Emmanuel Owoicho, who spoke to newsmen on the matter narrated how his passengers were robbed and abducted: “On Saturday I was travelling to Lagos. So after Ayangba, the place is called Ochadamu junction. On reaching there around after 4pm, I saw some men coming out from the bush and started shooting at us.
“I wanted to go ahead but later I realized that if I do that, they will riddle the bus with bullets so, I parked. Many others came from the bush and started robbing us. They collected our money, phones, everything we had they collected.
“Then they asked us to lie on the road but on sighting a trailer on high speed approaching, the leader of the robbers asked us to get up and stay by the roadside. He now asked six persons to follow him, three men and three female into the bush. I called back my passengers and we got to a Naval check point and reported the incident to them.
“After over 30 to 40 minutes search, the Naval Officers came back to say they could not find the kidnappers. The next day, I went to the Police Station in Ayingba to formally report the incident and they instructed me to go.
“I then took the remaining passengers back to Gboko. I had left Gboko by after 10 am on that Saturday and got to that junction at about 4pm.
“I picked 13 passengers from Gboko on that day and they kidnapped six. They collected the sum of N42, 000 from me.
“The kidnappers are demanding for N10 million as ransom from those kidnapped but their families are negotiating between N750,000 and N450,000. There is an orphan girl whose family said they only have N80,000.”
