Some armed men suspected of being kidnappers killed one person and kidnapped many travelers along Ugwogo-Neke Odenigbo Road in Enugu East Local Government Area Enugu State.
The victim, Cyril Mbah, was said to be driving home with his daughter in his vehicle when they encountered the kidnappers who suddenly opened fire on them.
The incident occurred around 7:30 p.m. Friday, Newslodge has learned.
Subsequently, the thugs flagged down another vehicle and kidnapped an as-yet-undetermined number of travelers.
“Neke Odenigbo-Nike chief Cyril Mbah was shot dead by suspected kidnappers along the Ugwogo/Isi-Uzo road near the Neke Odenigbo junction,” a witness, Kingsley Odoh, told reporters in Enugu on Saturday.
“Unfortunately, he (Mbah) could not survive the shooting, but nothing happened to his daughter.
“The hijackers went further, shooting and crushing the tires of another vehicle that was approaching the scene, managing to take the driver and other people on board. So far, no one is sure where they are,” Odoh added.
A youth leader in Ugwogo-Nike, who asked not to be named, told Newslodge that the kidnappers only killed Mr Mbah, contrary to speculation that two were killed in the attack.
The youth leader said the victim died at the Ugwogo-Nike roundabout while a vigilante, identified as Okenna Okoh, was taking him to a hospital and had gone to rescue them.
“He (Mbah) was held on a motorcycle and was yelling, ‘I’m dying’ (because he was uncomfortable) before Okenna used the vehicle that the kidnappers had punctured to take the man and his daughter to hospital.” he said.
When contacted on Sunday morning, Enugu state police spokesman Daniel Ndukwe confirmed the victim’s murder to Newslodge.
“The manhunt operation is underway to arrest the armed assailants,” said Ndukwe, deputy superintendent of police.
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However, he said police in the state were unaware of the kidnapping of travelers during the attack.
Increase in kidnapping attacks
This is not the first kidnapping incident in the Ugwogo-Nike community in recent times.
Several people, including university students and government officials, have been kidnapped lately along the Ugwogo-Opi-Ekwegbe road in the Igbo-Etiti local government area of the state.
The latest attack happened about three years after many people, including a Catholic reverend, were abducted on Ugwogo-Neke Odenigbo Road as they were returning from the funeral of a former member of the state Assembly, Chijioke Ugwueze.
The late lawmaker, who hailed from the Isi-Uzo local government area, died in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Neke Odenigbo shares a boundary with communities in the Isi-Uzo local government area of the state.
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