The Nigerian Army has rescued 21 passengers kidnapped during a violent ambush along the Obajana–Oshokoshoko corridor in Kogi State, restoring a measure of calm to a route long troubled by criminal attacks.
The operation, confirmed on Saturday by Lt. Hassan Abdullahi, Acting Assistant Director of Army Public Relations for the 12 Brigade in Lokoja, followed a coordinated push by soldiers, local vigilantes, hunters and other security units.
Abdullahi explained that the rescuers engaged the abductors in what he described as “an intense and determined firefight aimed at reclaiming innocent travellers”.
The attackers had reportedly mounted a blockade around 2:30 p.m. on Friday, halting several vehicles and ferrying their occupants into the surrounding bush before law enforcement teams could intervene.
Multiple eyewitnesses recounted that an 18-seater commercial bus was among the targeted vehicles.
One witness, visibly shaken, said the ambushers “took control of the road within minutes”, leaving motorists scrambling for safety.
According to him, the gunmen moved with “purpose and aggression”, striking vehicles at random.
Family members of some victims are still grappling with the trauma. A brother of one abducted passenger, who requested anonymity, said his sibling was en route to Abuja from Owo when the vehicle was intercepted.
He revealed that the kidnappers later placed a phone call demanding N40 million for his release, adding that the victim had been travelling to deliver news of a planned family event.
Security sources disclosed that several vehicles were affected, including a Toyota Hiace bus travelling from Owo to Abuja, a Toyota Sienna heading from Osogbo to Kaduna, a Toyota Carina from Lokoja to Kabba and another Hiace bus en route from Abuja to Ekiti State.
A senior community source familiar with the rescue confirmed that among those freed were eight passengers from two extended families, as well as two commercial drivers.
He said, “Two families lost four members each, but every one of them was recovered alive. Both the bus driver and truck driver who ran into the blockade were also pulled out safely.”
Despite the breakthrough, troops and local security teams remain in the bush, searching for additional victims and hunting down the attackers. Lt. Abdullahi stressed that operations would continue “until every missing traveller is accounted for”.
This incident underscores the recurrent security challenges along key transit routes across the North-Central region, where residents and travellers continue to call for firmer, long-term protection measures.