A quiet Wednesday evening turned into chaos in Ndegwu community, Umunwoha, Owerri West Local Government Area of Imo State, when armed men dressed in military camouflage stormed a local shop and abducted a nursing mother, her husband, and two other women at gunpoint.
According to eyewitness accounts, the armed men—believed to be herdsmen—arrived at the shop around 8 p.m., pretending to be customers before opening fire and ordering everyone to lie down. The victims were forced into the bush as gunshots echoed through the farmlands, sending panic across the community.
One of the abducted women, who miraculously escaped, recounted her terrifying ordeal. “We thought they were soldiers because of their uniforms,” she said. “They pretended to buy something, then suddenly pulled out rifles and told us to move. I managed to run into a nearby bush when they got distracted. They fired at me, but I wasn’t hit.”
The escaped victim revealed that the abductors later released the nursing mother after her husband pleaded for her freedom, citing the woman’s fragile condition. However, the gunmen kept the husband and another victim, identified only as Odinaka, and disappeared into the forest.
Efforts by the local vigilante group and residents to trace the kidnappers through the night yielded no result. Frustration and fear have since gripped the community as search operations continue across nearby farmlands and riverbanks.
As of Friday morning, the Imo State Police Command had not issued an official statement on the abduction. When contacted, Police Public Relations Officer Henry Okoye did not respond to calls or messages. However, community sources confirmed that security patrols have intensified in the area following the incident.
The latest abduction adds to the growing wave of kidnappings that have rocked rural parts of Imo State in recent months, with residents calling for urgent government intervention to curb the rising insecurity.
