Suspected Herdsmen Abduct Scores of Passengers at Edo Train Station

The Nation Newspaper

GUNMEN suspected to be herdsmen yesterday kidnapped scores of passengers waiting to board a train from Igueben, Edo State to Warri in Delta State, with many of the travellers injured.

Edo Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Chidi Nwabuzor, a Superintendent of Police (SP), confirmed the sad incident last night.

Nwabuzor, who stated that the incident happened at 4 p.m. yesterday, disclosed that the herdsmen were armed with AK-47 rifles. He said the gunmen invaded the train station and shot sporadically into the air before seizing an unspecified number of intending travellers that they moved into the forest.

In the ensuing confusion, some of the passengers, according to the PPRO, sustained bullet wounds, but assured that bush combing and rescue operations had begun in order to safely rescue the kidnapped passengers and arrest the fleeing kidnappers.

Nwabuzor stated that the Area Commander at Irrua, Edo State; the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) at Igueben, with many policemen had visited the scene of the crime with members of Edo State Security Network, local vigilance members and hunters, with a view to protect the lives and property of the remaining passengers.

It will be recalled that kidnappers have turned the Benin-Ekpoma-Auchi-Abuja expressway to a no-go area, with huge ransoms being collected from families of victims, almost on a daily basis, while many of the victims died in the process in the den of the criminals in the forest. Travellers in the area had resorted to using the trains which are now targeted by the kidnappers.

Checks show that the three senatorial districts of Edo State have not been safe, with Edo Central and Edo North senatorial districts being the worst hit.