Gunmen, on Monday, hijacked a commercial bus on the ever-busy East-West Road, kidnapping the 16 passengers on board and moved them into the forest, just as the 5-day annual conference of the African Bar Association (AFBA) was opening in Port Harcourt, the state capital.
According to The Nation, the hijacked bus belonged to a popular transport company (name withheld), while the driver of the bus was among the kidnapped persons, whose whereabouts remained unknown, as at press time.
The hijack/kidnap took place on the Emohua axis of the East-West Road in Rivers state, after the gunmen barricaded the dualised road and sporadically opened fire on the bus, thereby forcing the driver to stop.
The bus, which was riddled with bullets, was abandoned by the road side.
The opening ceremony of the AFBA's annual conference had in attendance the immediate President of the Republic of Tanzania, Dr. Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, who was the keynote speaker, the Rivers Governor, Nyesom Wike, and his counterpart of Sokoto State, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, among other eminent personalities.
It was gathered that a combined team of security operatives, consisting of the Police Mobile Force (PMF), Anti-Kidnapping Unit, Anti-Cultism Unit, the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad and personnel of the Joint Task Force had been deployed in the forest, bordering Emohua and Ikwerre Local Government Areas of Rivers state, to ensure quick rescue of the victims and arrest of the criminals.
Rivers police Spokesman, Nnamdi Omoni, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), who confirmed the incident, stated that the command was currently analysing the information it received from witnesses, assuring that the Rivers Commissioner of Police, Zaki Ahmed, was on top of the matter.
Omoni assured that concerted efforts were already being made to apprehend the hoodlums, while pleading with members of the public to be vigilant and assist the police and other security agencies with useful information on suspicious movements in their neighbourhoods.
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