No fewer than five wedding guests have been abducted by gunmen suspected to be kidnappers in Magogo village, Ogori/Magongo Local Government Area of Kogi State, while returning home.
The victims, who were only a few miles from their destination, were abducted while returning from Jos, Plateau State, where they had attended a wedding ceremony.
Confirming the incident in a telephone interview, the National President of the Magongo Development Association, Prince Akpata, said the gunmen blocked the victims’ vehicle, forced them out, and marched them into a nearby forest.
“The travellers were just a few kilometres away from reaching home when armed men emerged from the dark and intercepted them,” Akpata said.
“The victims were disembarked from their vehicle and taken into the bush at gunpoint. Their families are shattered, and the entire community is in fear.”
He appealed to authorities to take urgent action, stressing that the safety of the abducted persons must be prioritised.
“We urgently call on the Kogi State Government and security agencies to intervene and rescue our abducted citizens before the situation worsens,” he added.
Efforts to reach the spokesperson of the Kogi State Police Command, DSP Williams Aya, were unsuccessful, as calls to his line were not picked up at the time of filing this report.
The incident adds to growing concerns over insecurity in Kogi communities and the persistent trend of kidnappings along transit routes, raising fresh questions about the effectiveness of current counter-kidnapping strategies in the region.
