Unidentified gunmen have reportedly kidnapped at least five individuals in Ebonyi State.
The incident occurred at about 5:30 pm on Tuesday along the ever-busy Mile 2 axis of the Ishiagu/Okigwe express road.
The victims were said to be returning home from Enugu Airport with an airport taxi (Sienna bus) with reg/no. KWL 941 PD before they were kidnapped at the Mile 2 area, Ishiagu, in the Ivo Local Government Area of the state and taken into the nearby bush by their assailants.
A community member who served as a source to The Punch gave the victims’ names as 41-year-old Ajah Chibuzor; his wife; their 12-year-old daughter; and the airport driver.
The source further revealed that while taking the victims into the bush, the hoodlums ran into a farmer on his farm and abducted him.
He stated that the vehicle conveying the victims was abandoned at the scene of the incident but was later recovered and taken to Ishiagu Police Station.
In the last four months, 20 persons have been kidnapped along the axis, leading to the killing of four persons by the rampaging hoodlums suspected to be herders.
Women in the area had in April staged a protest which later turned violent, following the continued abduction of innocent residents of the area by hoodlums.
When contacted, the Special Assistant to Governor Francis Nwifuru on Internal Security, Ivo Local Government Area, Ike Cletus, confirmed the incident.
He regretted the council area had become a haven for kidnappers, attributing the development to non-functional Vigilante in the area.
He further said apart from the military personnel on the express road, the council’s vigilante group was not functional and called for a total overhaul of the security architecture in the local government area.
