Gunmen suspected to be herdsmen unleashed terror on the Aba-Owerri expressway in the Ngor Okpala area of Imo State on Tuesday, May 6, 2025, killing one person and kidnapping 26 others, including commuters in two commercial buses. The brazen attack occurred around 6:30 p.m., plunging the area into chaos and reigniting fear over worsening security along the busy highway.
Eyewitnesses say the assailants ambushed vehicles near the Ngor Okpala axis, shooting the driver of a Hilux vehicle dead at point-blank range. Moments later, they hijacked two major transport vehicles—one belonging to God is Good Motors (GIGM) and another from Akwa Ibom Transport Company, both en route to different destinations.
Sources confirmed that 12 passengers and the driver of the GIGM bus were forcefully taken into the nearby forest. In the second vehicle, a female student of the University of Uyo, who was returning to school, was among those abducted. Her identity has yet to be disclosed, but her disappearance has already sparked alarm on campus.
Residents report that this is not the first time such an attack has occurred along the same stretch of road. “They’ve taken over that axis again,” a local source lamented. “This is no longer a kidnapping incident—this is coordinated terrorism.” The growing frequency of highway abductions has led to increasing calls for military intervention.
Local vigilante groups and security agents reportedly arrived at the scene after the gunmen had fled. Efforts are currently underway to trace the kidnappers’ location, though many fear for the safety of those taken, given the notorious reputation of abductions in the region. No official ransom demands have been made public as of the time of this report.
The Imo State government has yet to issue a statement, but pressure is mounting on both state and federal authorities to act decisively. Human rights groups and civic bodies are calling for urgent deployment of security forces along the road, which connects multiple economic zones and educational institutions.
As families wait in anguish and fear, the country watches—once again reminded that Nigeria’s roads are not just transportation routes, but battlegrounds where lives hang in the balance.
