Army, Police rescue passenger after night attack on Benin–Sapele road

By Kingsley Omonobi

Soldiers and police officers responding to a distress call on Wednesday night rescued a passenger who had gone missing after an attack on two commercial buses along the Benin–Sapele Expressway near Obayantor 2 community in Edo State.

The incident reportedly occurred at about 10:45 p.m., when armed men emerged from the bush and opened fire on vehicles along the route.

One of the buses, a white vehicle with registration number 166 XB, was transporting four passengers from Kaduna to Sapele and was forced to stop during the attack. Three of the passengers escaped, but one, 53-year-old Abubakar Ahmed, was initially unaccounted for.

A combined team of army personnel, police operatives, and local vigilantes arrived at the scene shortly after receiving the alert. According to security sources at the scene, the team moved quickly to secure the area and search the surrounding bushes.

Sources said the coordinated response helped disrupt the attackers’ movement and contributed to the eventual recovery of the missing passenger.

Two expended cartridges were found at the scene. The bus driver, Ikechukwu Nwanonaku, and two passengers, Hassan Jafaru and Sani Saidi, were later located unharmed.

Security personnel said a joint search of the area led to the sighting of movement in the bush, after which Ahmed was rescued. He was reunited with the other passengers and taken to a police station. No injuries were reported.

During the response, security operatives also found a second bus, with registration number GB 211 LG and bearing an “Ovia South LGA” inscription, parked off the road. Its doors were locked except for the driver’s side, and neither the driver nor passengers were found at the scene. Items recovered from the driver’s area included a power bank, a Samsung Android phone, and ₦9,500 in the vehicle’s compartment.

Security agencies are continuing efforts to determine the circumstances surrounding the second vehicle.

Operatives later described the terrain as heavily vegetated and challenging, noting that the area is a difficult security corridor that requires sustained operations.

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