At least 18 passengers heading to Abuja aboard the newly launched Edo Line bus were abducted by armed assailants on the Benin–Auchi Highway in Edo State on Friday.
Gatekeepers News reports that a video of the scene showed a long queue of vehicles halted on both sides of the expressway, illustrating the disruption caused by the attack.
Eyewitnesses recounted how the kidnappers forced the victims into the forest at gunpoint shortly before law enforcement intervened.
Police spokesperson SP Moses Iyamu confirmed that 16 of the abducted passengers have been rescued safely, with search-and-rescue operations still underway in collaboration with local vigilantes and hunters.
He said, “Sixteen of these passengers have been rescued safely while the rescue operation by Edo State Police in synergy with vigilantes and hunters continues,” stressing the intensified efforts to free the remaining two captives .”
