The Kogi State Police Command has rescued 15 people abducted along the Itobe-Anyigba highway in Ofu Local Government Area following a gun battle with their captors.
The victims, comprising 12 adults and three children, including two personnel of the Federal Road Safety Corps, were rescued during a coordinated security operation on Sunday.
The incident occurred at about 4pm on August 9, when a Peace Mass Transit bus was intercepted between Ojuwo Ajengo and Mamerebo, an identified kidnapping flashpoint along the Itobe-Achigili axis of the highway.
The abductors reportedly took the occupants of the bus into a nearby forest before security agencies mobilised to rescue them.
The Commissioner of Police in Kogi State, CP Naziru Bello Kankarofi, ordered the immediate deployment of tactical and intelligence assets to locate the kidnappers and rescue the victims.
The operation involved the police, 12 Brigade of the Nigerian Army, Department of State Services, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, local vigilantes and other auxiliary security personnel.
According to the Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Saliu Oyiza Afusat, the operatives engaged the abductors in a fierce gun battle.
“Several of the kidnappers were neutralised during the encounter, while others fled into the surrounding forest,” she said.
She disclosed that a local vigilante member supporting the operation was killed, while a police officer sustained gunshot injuries.
“Despite the resistance, the security operatives closed in on the abductors and successfully rescued all 15 victims directly from their custody,” Afusat said.
The command said the rescued victims were found safe and unharmed before being evacuated from the operational area.
The victims included two FRSC personnel identified as CRC I. Ibe and SRC Ik. Ukandu, alongside Josephbah, Joshua Daniel, Joy Ogbu, Chigocife Ogbu, Charity Aneebo, Ngozi Stephin, Somaliya Zegu, Chidera Emanuel, Pamela Oraeto, Abakwam Loveth, Chimereze Nekuma, Chibok Nzekwu and Victor Edozi Anyichie.
The police said efforts were ongoing to apprehend the fleeing abductors while tactical and intelligence-led operations were being sustained in the area.
The command added that three other coordinated security operations were ongoing at different locations across the state as part of efforts to disrupt criminal activities.
It urged members of the public to remain vigilant and provide timely and credible information that could assist security agencies in apprehending criminal elements.
© 2026, Standard Focus. All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from STANDARD FOCUS.