From Noah Ocheni, Lokoja
Gunmen have killed a young man and abducted a woman during a late-night attack on Ijekpe village in the Ette community, Ogugu district of .
Sources said the assailants stormed the village at about 11:00 p.m. on Wednesday, firing sporadically and holding residents hostage for several hours.
“It was the following morning that we discovered the gunshots we heard overnight were from kidnappers. A stray bullet hit one member of the community and he died instantly, while one woman was whisked away,” a source disclosed.
Security operatives, including personnel of the , have reportedly been deployed to the area and are combing nearby forests in a joint operation with local security outfits.
Community members lamented that Ette and surrounding communities along the Kogi–Enugu boundary have witnessed a surge in kidnapping incidents in recent times. They appealed to the Kogi State Government to intensify security efforts, particularly around border communities.
Meanwhile, the (KENW) said the region is currently experiencing a higher rate of kidnappings than recorded in December last year.
Sources also revealed that a few days earlier, a woman travelling from the South-East to Kaduna was rescued by troops after security operatives pursued the kidnappers and forced them to abandon the victim.
Local vigilantes have raised concerns over what they described as an influx of cattle breeders into the Oforachi, Odolu and Igalaogba forests, warning that the development could worsen the security situation.
Residents have also been advised to avoid night travel, as search and rescue operations are more challenging under poor visibility.
As of the time of filing this report, the had yet to issue an official statement on the incident in Olamaboro Local Government Area.
