The Police in Edo State said it has rescued 17 victims who were abducted by herdsmen along Benin/Lagos Expressway on Sunday.
The state Police spokesperson, SP Chidi Nwabuzor, in a statement on Wednesday, said the herdsmen emerged from the bush with AK 47 rifles and pump-action guns, shot sporadically at vehicles, and abducted 20 persons.
Nwabuzor said, “The Edo Police Command, in its efforts to nip in the bud kidnapping and other related violent crimes in the state, on Sunday, November 20, 2022, around 6.35 pm, rescued 17 kidnap victims along the Benin-Lagos Expressway, between Ugbogwi and Ohosu communities in Edo State.
“Meanwhile, during the process of headcount, it was revealed that three other persons were missing. The rescued victims were passengers of a mass transit bus who were traveling from Delta to Lagos State but were attacked and kidnapped by six herdsmen.”
He said three of the victims were still missing, adding that plans are in progress to rescue them and apprehend the perpetrators.
“Immediately, the operatives of the Safer High Way Edo South alongside a team of police officers covering the long stretch of the expressway, moved to the direction of the gunshot, engaged the kidnappers, and rescued 17 persons, while three others were taken away into the bush.
“Meanwhile, a serious manhunt operation through bush combing strategies is currently ongoing for possible rescue of the victims unhurt and for the arrest of the kidnappers.”
