Kidnap Gangs Recruiting Hires along Kogi-Nasarawa Corridor: Expert
By Onibiyo Segun
KABBA, Kogi state — An injured driver and a mother of three who hid beneath leaves overnight were among 11 passengers rescued after an armed ambush on Kabba–Ayere Road, Kogi State. Both survivors fear travelling the route again, raising questions about whether military operations can prevent another abduction.
Kidnapped on Sunday, October 18, 2026, Lieutenant Hassan Abdullahi, Acting Assistant Director of Army Public Relations, 12 Composite Brigade, said troops responding to credible information forced the attackers to abandon their victims and flee into the surrounding bush.
The driver and two other passengers were injured and evacuated for treatment. A follow-up search on Monday, October 19, found two more passengers who had fled into the bush, bringing the total rescued to 11.
Survivors Describe the Ambush
“They shot my tire. I told the passengers to run. The armed men pulled us. I was hit on the leg when I struggled,” Vincent Olúsolá, a commercial driver rescued Sunday, told TruthNigeria. He left Kabba for Ayere at about 7:30 a.m. Near a bend after a stream, he saw branches blocking the road. Seven armed men emerged as he reversed.
He said soldiers exchanged gun fire with the armed men, who fled. Wounded, he hid until troops found him.
“I could hear them shouting in Fulfulde and Hausa. They carried rifles (AK-47) and did not even hide their faces. Young Fulani boys”, Cecilia David, a mother of three carrying goods to market told TruthNigeria. She said she ran into a thick bush when attackers stopped her vehicle. She fell, tore her wrapper and hid beneath thick bushes overnight.
The Army has not independently confirmed the attackers’ ethnicity or affiliation.
David went on to say, “On Monday, I heard voices calling. I checked and saw military uniforms and shouted back, and I was rescued.
“But I fear to travel that road again. The government should clear that bush or put soldiers there always. Women like us suffer kidnap, rape and even death in situations like this,” David concluded.
The Army has not announced arrests or publicly identified the attackers.
Proposed Military Base Raises Questions
The ambush occurred along Kabba–Ayere Road in Kabba-Bunu county (Local Government Area). The Army said troops deployed at its Kabba patrol base responded, but the precise ambush point and distance from the base remain unverified.
The proposed Forward Operating Base (FOB) at Iluke-Bunu was inspected in April 2025. In September 2026, Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo said it was expected to be ready within three weeks. The announcement provides context for planned security improvements but does not establish that the base was operational during the October attack.
Kabba–Ayere lies within Okunland, whose Yoruba-speaking communities span six LGAs: Kabba-Bunu, Ijumu, Yagba East, Yagba West, Mopa-Muro and Lokoja. Ayere is in Ijumu, while Kabba is in Kabba-Bunu. Many Okun communities are predominantly Christian.
Rescue Is Not the Same as Prevention
“Prevention is measured, response is narrated. For Kabba-Bunu to show prevention, 12 Composite Brigade and Kogi Government must publish 4 figures monthly,” said Air Commodore Darlington Abdullahi, a counterterrorism expert to TruthNigeria. He urged the Army and Kogi State Government to publish monthly figures distinguishing prevention from response.
“If attempts are intercepted before abduction, that is prevention. Bravery without metrics is not security.” Abdullahi went on to say.
Observations of Forensic Experts
TruthNigeria reported that the Army claimed troops rescued 23 passengers after a June 1 attack on Ayegunle–Bunu Road. However, a subsequent TruthNigeria report carried a rebuttal from the Aiyegunle Igun Bunu Development Association, which disputed the claimed rescue and said abducted residents remained missing.
In April, TruthNigeria reported that an attack on Odae Bunu left five people abducted and one resident killed. In December 2025, armed men abducted worshippers from an ECWA church at Aiyetoro Kiri. These incidents establish a history of serious attacks, not a common perpetrator.
Abdullahi cautioned against linking the incidents without corroborating evidence.
“Geography does not equal organization. To link October 18 Kabba-Ayere with June 1 Ayegunle Bunu and January Aiyetoro Kiri church, investigators need 3 linked pieces of evidence,” Abdullahi said.
“The forest is the constant, the group may vary,” Abdullahi added.
“My decade of research in Zamfara shows transformation: 2011-2012 Kundu and Buharin Daji started as Kungiyar gayu (young guys) for cattle rustling, then became 120+ gangs with AK-47s by 2021. Same pattern now in Kogi-Nasarawa border,” Dr. Murtala Ahmed Rufa’i explained. He urged investigators to examine possible cross-state links.
Rufai recommended examining detention periods, movement between camps, group composition and ransom arrangements. The October rescue alone does not prove a cross-state network.
Authorities Must Show What Changes
Analysts urged 12 Composite Brigade to disclose attacker numbers, weapons, arrests, victim debriefings and links to June’s case. Kogi should publish kidnapping and prosecution figures, establish forest-edge bases, joint patrols, surveillance, a protected hotline, weekly logs and a 90-day abduction-free target.
All 11 passengers were reportedly rescued, but the attackers remain unidentified. Until authorities demonstrate that vulnerable routes are safer before another ambush, travellers face an urgent question: who will protect the next vehicle stopped on Kabba–Ayere Road?
Onibiyo Segun reports on terrorism and conflict for TruthNigeria.
