Police Confirm Abduction of 7 Naval Officers Abducted by Armed Bandits in Edo State

Police Confirm Abduction of 7 Naval Officers Abducted by Armed Bandits in Edo State

  • The Edo police command has confirmed the abduction of seven Naval personnel by armed bandits in the state
  • The police, however, revealed that its operatives have rescued five of the military personnel while still searching for the remaining two
  • The incident comes few weeks after another Naval personnel was killed by kidnappers in the south-south state

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Edo - A report by the Daily Trust newspaper indicates that seven officers of the Nigerian Navy have been abducted in Edo state.

According to the report, the officers were abducted by armed bandits while travelling to Delta from Kaduna state on the popular Sapele-Warri road.

AZ Gambo
The Nigerian Navy leadership in Abuja is yet to officially comment on the incident. Photo credit: Nigerian Navy
Source: Facebook

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Five of the officers rescued by police operatives

The report, however, revealed that five of the officers have been rescued by operatives of the Edo state police command.

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A source quoted in the report said:

“They were on their way to Navy Engineering College, Sapele in Delta state.”

It was gathered that policemen from the Edo State Command, acting on intelligence report, rescued five of the officers while two others are still missing.

The spokesperson of the Edo state police command, SP. Kotongs Bello confirmed the report but didn’t go into details.

His words:

“We rescued five and two others are yet to be rescued. That is the one I am aware of.”

Worrying trend of military personnel targeted by bandits

Recall that earlier this month, BusinessDay newspaper reported that bandits kidnapped 18 passengers including a naval officer who were travelling from Akwa Ibom to Lagos en route to Edo state.

According to the report, the kidnappers intercepted the 18-seater bus they were travelling in between Ekiadolor and Ovia River bridge after dispossessing all the passengers of their belongings, including cash and handsets.

Read also

Bandits invade police armoury in Kaduna, three officers injured

It was further learnt that the Naval personnel was killed on the spot by the bandits suspected to be armed herdsmen.

In a related development, armed bandits on Thursday, July 15 killed two Nigerian soldiers, wounded several others, and abducted many people in Sabon Birni local government area of Sokoto state.

The attack took place at about 2 pm in Unguwar Lalle, a few kilometres from Sabon Birni town.

A resident of the area, Lawal Gobir, said the two soldiers were killed while trying to repel the bandits’ attack.

Meanwhile, the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) says it is disturbed by the lack of the federal government’s proactive steps to halt kidnapping in the country.

The spokesman of the ACF, Emmanuel Yawe, shared the concerns of the northern body in an interview with a national newspaper recently.

He said it is the belief of the ACF that the Buhari-led government is incapable of intelligence gathering to stop the recurrent mass kidnappings.

Source: Legit.ng

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