8th January, 2023
The Edo State Police Command has confirmed that many passengers waiting to board a train from the Igueben station in Igueben Local Government Area of Edo State to Warri in Delta State were kidnapped by suspected herdsmen on Saturday evening.
According to the police, some of the passengers sustained bullet wounds.
This was barely a year after terrorists attacked a Kaduna-bound train from Abuja, at a place called Katari in Kaduna State.
The Edo Police Public Relations Officer, Chidi Nwabuzor, confirmed the incident in a statement on Saturday.
According to the statement, the abductors, armed with AK 47, invaded the train station and shot sporadically into the air.
They thereafter abducted scores of intending travellers and took them into the bush.
“This is to inform the gentlemen of the press that today, 7th of January, 2023 at about 1600hrs, an unspecified number of herdsmen armed with AK 47 riffles attacked the train station at Igueben, Edo State and kidnapped unspecified number of passengers who were waiting to board the train to Warri.
“The kidnappers who shot sporadically into the air before kidnapping some passengers left some persons with bullet wounds. The Area Commander Irrua, DPO Igueben Division, and men have visited the scene of the crime with members of the Edo State Security Network, local vigilantes, and hunters with a view to protecting the lives and property of the remaining passengers,” the police said.
The statement assured that operatives were on the trail of the abductors in order to rescue the victims, saying “bush combing operations have commenced in order to rescue the victims and arrest the fleeing kidnappers. Further developments will be communicated.”