According to a verified eyewitness account that Parallel Facts News has received, gunmen believed to be kidnappers abducted 15 people yesterday along the Afuze-Auchi road in Edo State.
The eyewitness, who spoke to us on condition of anonymity, said that the incident happened around 2 p.m. on Sunday afternoon when the gunmen ambushed three vehicles travelling on the road.
The eyewitness said that he was lucky to escape the attack as he was traveling in another vehicle behind the ones that were attacked. He said that he quickly reversed and took another route to avoid being caught.
The Afuze-Auchi road is one of the most dangerous roads in Edo State, as it has witnessed several cases of kidnapping in the past. According to Parallel Facts News, gunmen kidnapped 12 people along the same road in May 2023. In December 2020, a different source also claimed that gunmen had kidnapped some passengers on the same road.
The Afuze/Auchi Road has now become an alternative route for commuters plying the Benin/Auchi road after the expressway caved in at Ekpoma and some parts of Iruekpen in Esan West Local Government of the state. Though the Auchi/Afuze/Sabogida Ora road is still in deplorable condition as motorists decry the neglect of the road by the Obaseki-led state government,
The Edo State Police Command has not issued any statement on the latest incident as of the time of filing this report.