Four mourners, comprising a mother and her three children, were among nine persons allegedly kidnapped by gunmen at Inele-Ugoh in Igah Ikeje community of Olamaboro Local Government of Kogi State.

The incident took place in the early hours of Friday when gunmen numbering over 40 stormed the community.

The woman and her three children were said to be heading to another community for a burial ceremony when the gunmen overran them and took them into the forest.

Five other victims were reportedly abducted on their farms by the gunmen.

Eyewitnesses said the number of the gunmen and the weapons they carried even scared the vigilante group from confronting them.

The community quickly sent a distress call to troops of 12 Brigade Nigerian Army who were located at a checkpoint within the community to help. But the soldier came late after the gunmen had disappeared into the forest.

Though the troops and local vigilante members are already combing the forests for the safety of the victims, members of the community said that unless there is deployment of drones and police helicopters from Lokoja, the troops alone may not easily locate the bandits.

The local community police said, “This group of bandits are going about in large numbers, they could be up to 200, and they split into two groups. They don’t stay in one location; they keep moving their captive from one location to another. Troops can only succeed when they have support from the air. So, a drone or a police helicopter is required to root out these criminals from our community. We will not enjoy Christmas if these criminals remain in our forests.”

Members of the Kogi East Neighbourhood Watch (KENW) have reported that kidnappers have concentrated their criminal activities in Olamaboro communities in recent times. “The gunmen are obviously infiltrating the locality from neighbouring states. They are operating in good numbers and are heavily armed,” they said.

Another resident said, “These are bandits; they are very desperate and audacious, operating day and night. We need more deployment and air surveillance by the state and federal government to curtail the menace of these criminals”.

However, the Kogi State Police Command has yet to respond to calls seeking confirmation of the attack, as its line could not be reached at the time of this report.