By Barth Ikiebe.
A 12-year-old girl was shot dead and a woman remains missing after gunmen ambushed a commercial vehicle on the Fugar-Agenebode Road in Etsako East Local Government Area of Edo State on Friday.
The attackers, who blocked the road and opened fire indiscriminately, forced the vehicle to a halt before whisking 14 passengers into the nearby forest. The incident threw the area into panic and prompted a swift security response.
The Police Public Relations Officer,PPRO,for the Police Command in the State , Moses Yamu, confirmed the incident in a statement made available to The Reporters on Sunday.
He disclosed that a joint team of police operatives from Agenebode, local vigilantes, and hunters chased the assailants into the bush and engaged them in a fierce gun battle along Obe Hill, near the pipeline route to Ajaokuta.
“All 14 abducted passengers were rescued alive. However, a 12-year-old girl was fatally shot by the fleeing kidnappers, and one female victim remains unaccounted for,” Yamu said.
He assured the public that intensive efforts were ongoing to apprehend the attackers and locate the missing woman.
The ambush, which occurred in broad daylight, has again raised concerns over rising insecurity along the Fugar-Agenebode corridor, where residents and travelers frequently report attacks by armed groups.
Edited by Dada Ahmed.
