Tension gripped Ogbe and neighbouring communities in Kogi State on Friday following a fresh bandit attack along the Ogbe–Egbe axis, leaving one person injured and five others abducted.
The attack, which occurred at the boundary between Ogbe and Koro communities, reportedly targeted residents travelling to Egbe to attend the wedding ceremony of an Ogbe indigene resident in Egbe.Sources told SaharaReporters that the victims were en route to the ceremony when they were ambushed by armed men suspected to be bandits.
The assailants reportedly opened fire on the travellers, shooting one person, while others attempted to flee for safety.“One person was shot during the attack and has been rushed to a hospital. Five others were abducted and taken into the bush,” a resident said.
The identity of the injured victim and the abducted persons had yet to be officially confirmed as of the time of filing this report.Following the attack, residents of Ogbe, Egbe and surrounding communities expressed renewed fears over what they described as worsening insecurity on rural roads in the area.Community members lamented that the Ogbe–Egbe axis has increasingly become unsafe, especially for travellers attending social events or commuting between villages.
Residents have called on security agencies and the Kogi State Government to urgently beef up patrols along the road to prevent further attacks and restore confidence among commuters.They also urged authorities to carry out sustained operations in nearby forests where the attackers were believed to have escaped after the assault.
In its efforts to combat insecurity, the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) recently confirmed the arrest of two notorious bandits and kidnapping kingpins responsible for violent crimes across Katsina, Zamfara, Niger and Kwara States.Naija News reports that this was disclosed in a statement on Friday by Force PRO, CSP Benjamin Hundeyin.According to the statement, on Friday, 19th December, 2025, operatives of the Force Intelligence Department–Intelligence Response Team (FID–IRT), attached to Kwara State, in a covert operation carried out in collaboration with operatives of the Kwara State Police Command, intercepted and arrested two members of a dangerous banditry and kidnapping gang along the Komen–Masallaci axis in Kaiama Local Government Area of Kwara State.
The suspects arrested are Abubakar Usman, alias Siddi ‘m’ aged 26 and Shehu Mohammadu, alias Gide ‘m’ aged 30. Both suspects were arrested in Komen–Masallaci village, Kaiama LGA of Kwara State at the time of arrest.
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