Hoodlums hijack bus, kidnap 14 passengers

A commercial bus conveying about 14 passengers from Port Harcourt to Omoku in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area of Rivers State was intercepted on Friday by suspected kidnappers.

The hoodlums were said to have ordered the passengers out of the vehicle, set it ablaze before whisking them (passengers) away.

The incident happened on the not-too-busy Elele-Ikiri-Omoku Road at about 4pm


It was gathered that the vehicle, which was marked ONELGA Link, had just negotiated a sharp bend before the suspected kidnappers forced it to stop.
Though no information was given about the driver’s whereabouts, a source in ONELGA said the driver might also be part of the victims of the kidnappers.

“I heard that a bus travelling to Port Harcourt from Omoku was intercepted few minutes after it left Omoku and the passengers were kidnapped. I am not aware if the vehicle was burnt but the kidnappers,” a source in ONELGA told our correspondent through the telephone.

Another source told Saturday PUNCH that all the passengers on board were taken away by the suspected kidnappers.

“It is actually true that a bus, ONELGA Link, was stopped by kidnappers on Friday and the passengers were abducted. The bus was also set on fire,” the source, who identified himself as Abraham, added.

When contacted, the State Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Nnamdi Omoni, only said he would speak on the matter whenever he got “a fuller detail”.

PUNCH