{"id":29002,"date":"2026-04-21T17:02:57","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T16:02:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/?p=29002"},"modified":"2026-04-21T17:03:03","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T16:03:03","slug":"gunmen-abduct-15-passengers-on-calabar-oron-waterway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/21\/gunmen-abduct-15-passengers-on-calabar-oron-waterway\/","title":{"rendered":"Gunmen Abduct 15 Passengers on Calabar\u2013Oron Waterway"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>CALABAR, Nigeria (FN),<\/strong> Gunmen abducted at least 15 passengers along the Calabar\u2013Oron waterway in Cross River State on Friday, officials said. The victims were travelling aboard a Sea Express boat from Calabar to Oron when attackers struck, forcing the vessel to shore before seizing passengers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Authorities confirmed Monday that coordinated search\u2011and\u2011rescue and tactical operations are underway to secure the victims\u2019 release. The joint operation involves the Nigerian Navy, Marine Police, and other security agencies, reflecting growing concern over insecurity on waterways in southern Nigeria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Maritime abductions have become increasingly common in recent years. In 2020, pirates kidnapped crew members off the coast of Bonny, Rivers State, while in 2022, gunmen attacked boats in Bayelsa, abducting several passengers. Analysts say the latest incident highlights the vulnerability of inland waterways, which are vital for trade and transport but often poorly secured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Reactions to the Calabar\u2013Oron attack were swift. Local residents expressed fear over travelling by water, while civil society groups urged authorities to strengthen patrols and improve intelligence gathering. Security experts warned that unchecked maritime kidnappings could undermine economic activity in the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Officials say rescue efforts will continue until the abducted passengers are freed, stressing that the government is committed to restoring safety along the Calabar\u2013Oron corridor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>CALABAR, Nigeria (FN), Gunmen abducted at least 15 passengers along the Calabar\u2013Oron waterway in Cross River State on Friday, officials said. The victims were travelling aboard a Sea Express boat from Calabar to Oron when attackers struck, forcing the vessel to shore before seizing passengers. Authorities confirmed Monday that coordinated search\u2011and\u2011rescue and tactical operations are [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":29003,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3699,2096,776,4,478,458,3,1138],"tags":[12448,212,2586,1996,12105,12088,146,12449,12450,12452],"class_list":["post-29002","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-africa","category-economics","category-educational","category-featured","category-financial","category-legal","category-naija-news","category-politics","tag-calabar-oron-waterway","tag-cross-river-state","tag-gunmen-attack","tag-insecurity","tag-kidnapping","tag-maritime-security","tag-nigeria","tag-sea-express-boat","tag-search-and-rescue","tag-waterway-transport"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.funminews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/gunmen-insecurity-nigeria.webp?fit=1024%2C556&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29002","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29002"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29002\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29004,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29002\/revisions\/29004"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29003"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}