By Nicholas Ojo
At least two people have been reportedly killed, while the Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) of Ofu Local Government, Hon Yahaya Shagari and five others were abducted at the Ojuwo-Ocha village in Ofu Local Government Area of Kogi State.
It was learnt that the incident happened on Friday morning while the victims were on their way from Lokoja and their vehicle ran into the barricade mounted by the hoodlums on the road.
The villagers stated that immediately they learnt about the abduction, youths, vigilantes and hunters in the area, including security agents, pursued the alleged kidnappers and intercepted them at the bush of a village called Ajoo in the same council, to rescue the victims.
Açcording to the report, five out of the six kidnapped persons were said to have been rescued, however, one victim and a kidnapper said to be the leader of the gang was killed in the gun duel.
Other gang members were said to have escaped with several gun wounds in the process.
One of the rescued kidnap victims, who craved anonymity, said the APC chieftain gave them (2 men and 3 women) a lift on their way to Aya to attend an occasion from Itobe.
She said their abductors, numbering up to six, killed one of them for complaining that he was sick and unable to continue the journey into the bush.
Confirming the incident was the Kogi State command’s Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), SP William Ovye Aya, in a statement on Saturday.
He said; “Consequent upon the kidnap of the Chairman of the APC from Kogi East, the joint security operatives led by the Area Commander, Idah, ACP Alexander Asagade stormed the suspected kidnappers’ hideout in the bush.
“On sighting the operatives, the hoodlums engaged the operatives in a gun duel. During the process, one of the suspects was neutralized, two others arrested and the victims rescued unhurt,” he said in a statement.