Fifteen members of the National Youth Service Corps have reportedly been abducted by gunmen while travelling through Kogi State after completing their mandatory orientation programme.
The corps members were said to have been attacked on Wednesday along the Ofu/Itobe–Onicha-Igo axis in Ofu Local Government Area of the state while on their way to Abuja.
A relative of one of the victims told the Foundation for Investigative Journalism that the abductees were among members of the 2026 Batch ‘B’ Stream II who had concluded their orientation at the NYSC Permanent Orientation Camp in Bayelsa State.
According to the source, the corps members were travelling in two buses when the gunmen intercepted the vehicles and opened fire.
He said his brother, Ayodele David, was among those taken away, adding that the victims included passengers travelling in a Peace Mass Transit bus and another vehicle marked 564.
The relative said a police officer, Adeji Joshua, later contacted some of the victims’ families and informed them that the incident occurred around the Ofu/Itobe–Onicha-Igo axis.
He added that the driver of the Peace Mass Transit bus was injured during the attack and later taken to hospital, while the attackers reportedly fled with the passengers.
The source claimed that the assailants spoke Fulfulde, Hausa and English, but said the victims’ relatives had yet to establish their identities or affiliations.
As of the time of filing this report, there was no official confirmation from the Kogi State Police Command on the incident. Attempts to reach the command’s spokesperson, Saliu Afusat, were unsuccessful, while calls to Peace Mass Transit’s customer service and emergency lines were also unanswered.
The reported abduction comes amid renewed concerns over attacks on travellers along major roads and forest corridors in Kogi State, with several kidnapping incidents recorded in recent weeks.
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