![NATIONAL YOUTH SERVICE CORPS MEMBERS [PHOTO CREDIT: @officialnysc]](https://i0.wp.com/media.premiumtimesng.com/wp-content/files/2021/07/220252828_4144746535607843_3019607877400775503_n-e1787915830466.jpg?fit=960%2C568&ssl=1)
Fifteen National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members have reportedly been abducted by gunmen in the Ofu/Itobe–Onicha-Igo axis of Ofu Local Government Area of Kogi State.
A relative of one of the victims, who spoke with the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ), said the corps members were abducted on Wednesday while travelling from the NYSC Permanent Orientation Camp in Kolokuma/Opokuma Local Government Area of Bayelsa State to Abuja.
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The victims were members of the 2026 Batch ‘B’ Stream II and had reportedly concluded their orientation camp activities before beginning their journey.
According to the relative, identified as a family member of one of the abducted corps members, the youths were travelling in two buses when they were attacked.
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He told FIJ that his brother, Ayodele David, was among the abducted corps members.
A police officer, Adeji Joshua, who contacted some of the families, reportedly said the incident occurred along the Ofu/Itobe–Onicha-Igo axis.
The relative said the victims included passengers travelling in a Peace Mass Transit bus and another bus marked 564.
“According to a police officer who contacted us later that night, the incident occurred around Ofu Local Government Area, Kogi State, along the Ofu/Itobe–Onicha-Igo axis,” he told FIJ.
The source said the driver of the Peace Mass Transit bus was left behind after sustaining injuries during the attack.
He said the abductors reportedly spoke Fulfulde, Hausa and English, although the victims’ relatives could not independently establish their identities.
According to him, 16 people were listed on one of the manifests, but one corps member was transferred to another vehicle after the driver said the bus was full.
“From the explanation of the driver, who was badly injured, 15 passengers were kidnapped even though 16 people were listed on the manifest,” he told FIJ.
The driver was subsequently taken to hospital for treatment, the source said.
A video from the scene reportedly showed the attackers shooting at the vehicles before abducting the passengers.
PREMIUM TIMES could not independently verify the identities of the attackers or whether a ransom had been demanded as of the time of filing this report.
Efforts to obtain an official response from the Kogi State Police Command were unsuccessful. The command’s spokesperson, Saliu Afusat, did not answer calls to her phone.
Calls to Peace Mass Transit’s published customer service and emergency numbers were also unanswered.
The incident adds to a series of kidnapping attacks reported along Kogi’s highways and forest corridors in recent weeks.
READ ALSO: Teacher allegedly sets wife ablaze in Kogi
On 9 August, security agencies reported the abduction of commuters along the Ojuwo-Ajengo-Memarebo and Ojiwo-Itobe roads in Ofu LGA. The Nigerian Army later said 16 victims were rescued after troops, working with the police, Navy, vigilantes and hunters, engaged the abductors in a gun battle near Adumu in Dekina LGA. One local hunter was killed during the operation, while a police officer was injured.
Earlier, on 8 August, the Kogi Police Command said it had intensified operations around the Okene-Ajaokuta axis following another kidnapping incident along the Okene-Auchi Road. The operation involved police tactical units and the Nigerian Army, with support from the Edo State Police Command along the Kogi-Edo border.
The repeated attacks have raised concerns over the safety of travellers using Kogi’s highways, particularly routes linking the state with neighbouring states and areas where criminals can retreat into forested terrain.
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