In Lokoja, Kogi State, fifteen passengers abducted on August 9 along Kogi State’s Itobe–Anyigba Highway were rescued after a gun battle, raising a critical question: who are the armed groups repeatedly attacking travelers and communities in the area?
Kogi State Police Commissioner Naziru Bello Kankarofi said “a joint operation involving police, military, DSS, NSCDC and vigilantes rescued the passengers, while several attackers were neutralized and others escaped.”
Survivors described armed captors carrying AK-47 rifles, moving victims through rural locations and speaking Fulfulde. Their accounts, supported by local testimony and security analysis, point most strongly toward Fulani Ethnic Militia terrorist (FEM)-linked kidnapping networks behind recent attacks.
Victims Describe Armed Captors
Victor Edozie Anyichie, one of the rescued passengers, told national media that the Peace Mass Transit bus was attacked between Ojuwo Ajengo and Mamerebo in Ofu County after a Toyota Yaris blocked their movement. “The boys started coming out from the bushes,” he said. More than six armed men emerged, led by a commander carrying an AK-47 rifle. “I will always recognise him. He was their leader,” Anyichie said.
He added that the kidnappers moved victims between locations and demanded different ransom amounts. “They were telling us, you, 100,000. You, 100 million. You, 17 million. You, 15 million. The children, 20 million,” Anyichie said.
Another rescued passenger, Chidera Emanuel, told TruthNigeria that the attackers’ appearance and conversations provided additional clues.
“Our abductors dressed in a particular style and spoke a foreign language among themselves that some identified as Fulfulde,” Emanuel said. Fulfulde is the Fulani language.
The description does not independently prove the attackers’ identity, but it adds to accounts from other residents who say they have encountered similar groups.
Joel Attah, an Itobe trader whose brother was kidnapped earlier this year, said his family encountered a similar group.
His brother spent 22 days in captivity before the family paid ?2 million (about $1,470) ransom for his release.
“My brother told us they are Fulanis. They kept him moving in the bush, just like these people did to the passengers on Sunday. They were organized, they had guns, and they knew the forest very well,” Attah said.
