The security threat along Ugwuogo Nike-Opi-Nsukka in Enugu East, and Igbo-Etiti Local Government Areas of Enugu State seem to have defied any solution as suspected kidnappers allegedly laid siege on the highway, Thursday morning, shooting sporadically into the air in an attempt to abduct road users.
According to reports, the suspected kidnappers allegedly blocked the highway for over two hours during their operation at the Ekwegbe axis of the road, the same spot where the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, UNN, students and another unspecified number of road users were equally allegedly abducted on Sunday.
At the time of filing this report, the number of victims has not been ascertained as the spokesperson for the Enugu State Police Command, Daniel Ndukwe, has not responded to enquiries made through his phone line with regards to this incident.
However, an eyewitness, Ezeugwu Ndubuisi, in a telephone interview said “I was on my way to Nsukka this early morning hoping to meet up with an appointment before 9 O’clock. On reaching the scene, we were flagged down and stopped from running into the attack.”
“This happened exactly after Ugwuogo Nike, around Nike Uno, close to where they have a new police barrack.”
“We spent almost half an hour, and were able to get the Commissioner of Police on the phone before we began to notice the free movement of vehicles.”
Ezeugwu further said he could not ascertain if some people were kidnapped or killed because he never stopped to ask questions.
A commercial bus driver who pleaded for anonymity also said “We have been here since 7:15 am. This road has become something else. They operate from Ekwuege forest.”
According to a passenger, “There is no vehicle moving to and fro since morning. There have been movements of police and soldiers towards the scene, but we don’t know the extent they have gone,” he explained.
Recall that Jungle Journalist Media Limited earlier reported that the suspected kidnappers were already reaching out to the families of Sunday abductees to demand for ransom with an unverified report claiming that they were demanding N300 million to free UNN students in their custody.