OKENE, Nigeria — Violent criminal activity along the Okene-Auchi Federal Highway reached a devastating pitch late yesterday after heavily armed men disguised in military fatigues ambushed two commercial transit vehicles, killing a serving Nigerian Army officer and dragging 13 passengers into the forest.
The coordinated attack unfolded around late afternoon along the notorious transit corridor in Kogi State, catching commuters completely off guard as the assailants set up a fake checkpoint disguised under military authority.
The gunmen first intercepted a green Toyota Sienna carrying nine passengers traveling south from Abuja to Delta State. Armed men forced the vehicle off the asphalt, swiftly rounding up six travelers and marching them into the dense brush at gunpoint while three passengers managed to slip away into the surrounding vegetation during the commotion.
Minutes later, the gang stopped a second vehicle—a white Toyota Hiace commercial bus conveying 11 passengers from Delta State north toward Abuja. The gunmen seized seven occupants from the vehicle, while four others managed to survive or escape the immediate rounded sweep.
Tragedy escalated when a non-commissioned officer of the Nigerian Army traveling onboard the Hiace bus identified himself to the attackers. The armed men opened fire at close range, inflicting heavy gunshot wounds to his legs and thighs. Despite emergency intervention efforts after the gunmen fled, the soldier succumbed to severe blood loss. His remains have since been transferred to the Okengwe General Hospital mortuary for formal autopsy procedures.
First responders and security operatives arriving at the scene secured both abandoned commercial vehicles, towing them to a nearby divisional station for forensic analysis. Ballistics experts recovered five expended 7.62mm casing shells at the site, confirming the use of military-grade AK-47 assault rifles during the assault.
Survivors rescued from the fringe of the attack have provided crucial eyewitness statements to aid homicide and anti-kidnapping investigators in establishing the identities of the syndicate.
In response to the bloody ambush, a joint security task force comprising Nigerian Army units, mobile police squadrons, and local tactical anti-kidnapping teams has launched an aggressive, multi-pronged search-and-rescue operation. Heavy bush-combing tactics are currently underway across the Okene-Ajaokuta axis, supported by heightened ground surveillance and tracking units sweeping deep into surrounding forest reserves where the abductees are believed to be held.
Regional security authorities have assured the public that additional tactical checkpoints and motorized patrols are being deployed along the Edo-Kogi corridor to restore safety on the vital interstate highway and track down the perpetrators.
