Gunmen have killed two people and abducted 30 individuals in Ayegunle Bunu, a town in the Kabba-Bunu LGA of Kogi state.

Confirming the incident to TheCable on Monday, Saliu Oyiza, spokesperson of the state command, said the victims include 26 men and 4 women, adding that two people also lost their lives in the attack.

“Yes, people were kidnapped, but there were 30 people who were kidnapped,” Oyisza said.

“Four of them are female, and twenty-six are male, and two people were also killed during the attack.”

The victims were passengers travelling in a commercial bus that was intercepted by the suspected terrorists while passing through the community — barely 24 hours after the Kogi state government suspended the Echane festival in Ebiraland.

In a statement earlier on Saturday, Kingsley Fanwo, Kogi state commissioner for communications, said that the suspension followed “credible intelligence” suggesting that activities associated with the festival could endanger public peace and lead to a breakdown of law and order in parts of Kogi central senatorial district.

Fanwo noted that Ahmed Ododo, governor of the state, directed the suspension of the festival as a preventive security measure and instructed security agencies to enforce compliance.

He cautioned that any individual or group found organising or participating in activities connected to the festival would face legal consequences.

Meanwhile, troops of the 12 Brigade, Nigerian Army, on Monday rescued 23 of the passengers following a swift counter-kidnapping operation.

The operation was launched in the early hours of Monday, after suspected bandits barricaded the highway and abducted about 30 passengers travelling through the area. 

According to the Army, troops stationed within Kabba metropolis responded immediately after receiving a distress call at about 3:30 a.m. and moved to the scene of the attack.