Police rescue 13 kidnap victims in Edo

Relief has come to families of 13 kidnapped passengers in Edo State after their safe rescue by security operatives.

Confirming the development on Monday, the State Commissioner of Police, Monday Agbonika, said the victims were freed following a coordinated operation by the command.

The passengers had been abducted on Saturday afternoon along the busy Benin–Ore Expressway, near Ekhiadolor, when armed men intercepted their bus. In the violent attack, the gunmen reportedly shot the driver, leaving him critically injured, before marching the passengers into the surrounding forest.

Earlier, Agbonikan confirmed a manhunt was on for the kidnappers with special squads, drones and other equipment deployed into the bushes.

The police boss also confirmed the injured driver was responding to treatment at a hospital in Benin.

Giving a further update yesterday, Agbonikan said the kidnapped victims had been rescued, adding that search was still on for the suspects.

“We have rescued all the victims. All of them have been rescued. We have been on this since the day the incident occurred. We deployed drones and other gadgets to help in the search,” he said.

Social media activist, Martins Vincent Otse alias VeryDarkMan (VDM) made a video when his vehicle arrived at the scene where the incident took place.

In the video, the wounded driver who lain by the side of his bus with his clothes soaked in blood was lifted from the ground into the trunk of a Hilux and rushed to the hospital.