LOKOJA, Nigeria — Nigerian security forces have rescued 11 people after gunmen attacked two passenger buses carrying National Youth Service Corps members and other travelers in north-central Kogi state, police said, as a search continued for people still missing. Relatives initially reported that 15 corps members were abducted Wednesday while traveling from an NYSC orientation camp in Bayelsa state toward Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, but police have not independently confirmed the exact number taken.
The attack happened at about 4:40 p.m. near the Ogene Zaria-Onicha-Igo junction on the Aloma-Egane Expressway in Ofu Local Government Area, according to Kogi police spokesperson Saliu Afusat. Police said armed men emerged from nearby bushland and blocked two buses traveling in opposite directions, taking some passengers while others escaped. A joint security team later found a white Peace Mass Transit bus and a yellow 18-seat bus abandoned at the scene and began searching the surrounding area.
The search operation resulted in the rescue of 11 victims, including the drivers of the two buses, police said. Authorities said preliminary interviews showed that most of those rescued were NYSC members traveling from Bayelsa to Abuja. The distinction is significant because early reports described all 15 people as corps members, while the official police account has not established how many passengers were initially seized or how many remain captive. No group had publicly claimed responsibility for the attack, and police had not announced any ransom demand.
The abduction drew condemnation from the National Association of University Students, which called for the immediate rescue of those still missing and urged federal and state authorities to improve protection for young Nigerians traveling on dangerous highways. “Student and youth safety is non-negotiable,” the association said. Relatives have also appealed publicly for government intervention, including one woman who said her sister had finished NYSC orientation in Bayelsa and was traveling toward her posting when she disappeared. Police said “every available operational and intelligence resource” was being used to find the remaining victims.
The NYSC was established in May 1973 by the military government of Gen. Yakubu Gowon, three years after the Nigerian Civil War, as part of an effort to rebuild national unity and encourage young graduates to live and work outside their home regions. Participants generally undergo orientation before being deployed for national service in schools, government agencies, health facilities and other workplaces. The program’s emphasis on sending young people across Nigeria means security on interstate highways has become increasingly important as kidnapping and armed attacks spread across parts of the country.
The Kogi attack underscores a broader security challenge facing Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country and one of the continent’s largest economies. Kidnapping for ransom has become a persistent threat in several regions, with commuters, students, farmers and entire communities targeted by armed groups that often retreat into forests and other difficult terrain. Kogi’s location between northern and southern Nigeria makes its highways important transport corridors, and repeated attacks there threaten domestic travel and commerce while adding to international concerns over insecurity in West Africa. Security agencies said operations around the latest attack would continue until the remaining victims were found and those responsible were apprehended.
