Police rescue 4 passengers abducted from hijacked bus in Rivers

Okafor Ofiebor/Port Harcourt

Operatives of Tactical Units of the Rivers Police Command have rescued four of the passengers abducted from commercial bus hijacked in the Omerelu axis of Port Harcourt-Owerri road, Rivers State on Tuesday night.

SP Grace Iringe-Koko,the Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, for Rivers Police Command who confirmed the rescue of the four passengers said the ill-fated bus had not been discovered.

She stated that manhunt has been launched to rescue the remaining passengers.

It was learnt that the driver of the bus may have died from the bullet wounds sustained from the gun shots by the gunmen who hijacked the bus.

According to an eyewitness account, the commercial bus was returning to Port Harcourt from Owerri on Tuesday night when it was ambushed by the kidnappers.

Another commercial driver, who witnessed the incident, said armed kidnappers shot the driver on the leg before diverting the passengers to a nearby forest.

The eyewitness said the driver was rushed to hospital for immediate medical attention, while the whereabouts of the kidnap victims have remained unknown.

He said the matter has been reported at the Elele Police division in the Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State.

At the time of filing this report, the Rivers State Police Command was yet to comment or confirmed the incident as said it had not gotten briefings from the Elele Police Division the jurisdiction where the incident happened for more information.

It has also not been possible to ascertain the number of passengers who were on board the ill-fated bus and whereabouts of the victims since the Tuesday night of the incident.

However, that latest hijacking is happening about a week after passengers of another commercial bus were kidnapped along the Emohua-Kalabari axis of the East West road.