Scores of passengers waiting to board a train from Igueben in Igueben Local Government Area of Edo State to Warri in Delta State have been kidnapped.
Many of the travellers were injured in the ensuing melee.
Barely five months after the last batch of victims of the bloody terrorist attack on an Abuja-Kaduna train service were released, gunmen, again, caused mayhem, Saturday evening as they attacked and abducted scores of passengers of a Warri-bound train at the train station in Igueben, the administrative headquarters of Igueben Local Government Area of Edo State.
Though details were still sketchy as at the time of filing this report, many of the travellers were reportedly injured in the ensuing melee.
Also, even though the Edo State Command of the Nigeria Police Force has confirmed the attack, the number of passengers kidnapped by the blood-baying gunmen was yet to be ascertained as at press time.
The gunmen were reported to have attacked the travellers Saturday evening while they were waiting to board the train to Warri, the Delta State capital.
In a statement, the Police Public Relations Officer(PPRO), Edo State command, Mr. Chidi Nwabuzor, informed that the police have launched a scrupulous operation to comb the bush to, primarily, rescue the victims and return them safely to their families, as well as arrest the fleeing gunmen.
Nwabuzor explained that the kidnappers shot repeatedly into the air before abducting some passengers, leaving some persons with bullet wounds.
The statement reads: “This is to inform the gentlemen of the press that today, January 7, 2023, at about 1600hrs, 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 Area Commander Irrua, DPO Igueben Division, and men have visited the scene of crime with members of Edo State Security Network, local vigilante, and hunter with a view to protect the lives and property of the remaining passengers”.
