Terrorists, locally known as bandits, have abducted nine passengers and injured three others, including a commercial driver, in two separate attacks along the Kogi–Kwara highway.
The incidents occurred on Saturday between Egbe and Eruku on the Egbe–Ilorin road, according to reports from a local community blog.
The victims were travelling from Isanlu Makutu in Yagba East Local Government Area of Kogi State to Ilorin, Kwara State’s capital. Among those kidnapped were two white-garment church leaders, identified as Prophet Michael and Iyabode Asubiojo.
In a separate attack, the gunmen opened fire on a commercial vehicle returning from Ilorin, leaving the driver and two passengers—a Hausa trader and another man from Egbe—seriously injured.
A video obtained by Premium Times shows a goods-laden vehicle riddled with bullets, its driver’s seat soaked in blood.
According to the community blog Egbe Mekun Parrot, the injured driver, who hails from Isanlu, is currently receiving treatment in the hospital. “He is critically injured and urgently needs family care and community support,” the platform stated.
The group called on the Yagba East Local Government Chairman to liaise with his counterpart in Yagba West to take swift action to address the growing insecurity in the area.
As of the time of filing this report, police spokespersons in both Kogi and Kwara States—William Aya and Adetoun Ejire-Adeyemi—had yet to comment on the incident.
Both states, located in Nigeria’s North-Central region, have become increasingly prone to violent attacks in recent months. Despite government deployments of security forces, banditry and kidnappings have continued to surge across local communities and highways.
Residents of Yagba East and West in Kogi, as well as Patigi, Edu, and Ifelodun in Kwara, remain in constant fear amid frequent and often underreported abductions and killings.
The recent highway attacks further highlight Nigeria’s growing insecurity crisis, with rural travellers and commercial drivers bearing the brunt of worsening violence.