Gunmen suspected to be kidnappers have reportedly killed a tipper driver and abducted five women, including a woman identified as Mrs Ali.
The incident, according to reports occurred on Saturday, along the troubled Enugu – Ugwogo – Opi – Nsukka Road in Enugu State, southeast Nigeria.
This comes barely three weeks after gunmen suspected to be kidnappers attacked an Abuja – Enugu 18-seater bus along the same Enugu-Ugwogo-Opi-Nsukka route.
The incident happened on July 19 around the Ekwegbe section of the 10km road with over 10 military and police checkpoints.
Although the driver of the bus belonging to Peace Mass Transit (PMT) managed to manoeuvre the vehicle to escape the assailants without anyone being kidnapped, two passengers sitting in the front were not lucky as they sustained varying degrees of injury from the gunshots.
A few days ago, hoodlums suspected to be herdsmen killed two residents of Neke and abducted several passengers whose whereabouts have not been ascertained to date.
The recent incident happened when the tipper driver was driving out from a burrow pit where he had gone to load sand.
“Three of the kidnappers – all Fulani – asked him to stop. When he refused, they shot two tires and came close. Then they shot the driver when he came to ask what was going on,” an eyewitness told SaharaReporters on Tuesday.
“We rushed and reported the unfortunate incident to personnel at Unity Police Station which is located less than seven poles away from the scene,” he lamented.
Later that day, Mrs Ali, a native of Nsukka living in Emene was kidnapped with about five other women, SaharaReporters gathered.
According to sources, the woman had gone to see a landed property her son recently purchased when she was abducted.
A family member who confirmed the abduction on Tuesday disclosed that the kidnappers had reached out to her family and demanded a ransom of N10 million.
“She has been in captivity for over five days now,” the family source said.
In June, commercial drivers plying the Enugu-Ugwogo-Opi-Nsukka Road barricaded the Nsukka end of the road, to protest against the increasing cases of criminal abduction by suspected terrorists on the road almost on a daily basis.
No fewer than 16 commuters were abducted along the road that is less than 15km in one week alone despite several military and police checkpoints along the road, which have been converted to ‘toll gates’ by the military and police personnel.
It was reported that from Tuesday, June 20 to Friday, June 23 kidnappings of commuters and transporters went unchallenged.
For most of the victims, their relations went to Kogi or Benue states to pay ransoms to secure their release.
Meanwhile, efforts to speak with the Enugu State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Daniel Ndukwe were unsuccessful as he didn’t immediately answer his calls.
Sahara Reporters
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