Atleast 10 passengers have been reportedly abducted along Akara-Isuikwuato road by suspected Fulani Herdsmen in Isuikwuato Local Government Area of Abia State .
The suspected herdsmen were said to have kidnapped the passengers who were on their way to Akara in Isuikwuato and took them into the bush,Thursday evening.
According to reports, the travelers boarded a vehicle at the motor park opposite the Abia State University Uturu and few hours into the journey their vehicle was flagged down by the bandits who immediately marched them into the bush.
According to the reports, the hoodlums were later engaged in a gun duel by soldiers in a nearby military checkpoint but they managed to escape with their victims.
The hoodlums were said to be armed with dangerous weapons.
Similarly, a woman in a separate incident was abducted and raped to death by a gang of bandits also suspected to be Fulani herdsmen whose activities especially around Uturu axis in the recent times have assumed threatening dimension.
The victim who was reportedly stabbed by the bandits hailed from Amagu, Mbaugwu, Uturu in Isuikwuato LGA.
The Isuikwuato LGA Chairman, Hon. Chima Agbaeze, who confirmed the incidents, decried the activities of Fulani herdsmen in the area.
He regretted that despite spirited efforts by the Council to stem the tide, bandits still terrorize innocent folks.
The Council boss particularly expressed shock and rage that bandits successfully abducted travelers despite having many security checkpoints on the same road.
” It’s so annoying that I have four security checkpoints comprising the Army, police and local vigilante on that road between Uturu and Isuikwuato yet such thing happened”, Agbaeze fumed.
The Council boss who said that security remained the first charge of his administration vowed not to relent until his people are secure.
He said he was collaborating with his Umunneochi and Okigwe counterparts for joint efforts against the menace.
According to him, intelligence revealed that some of the bandits operate from Lokpanta where there is a concentration of Fulani community at the Cattle market, hence the synergy with Umunneochi LGA where the regional market is domiciled.
On the identity of the abducted travelers, the LG boss said efforts were ongoing to unravel it.
He also said that frantic efforts were on to rescue the victims.
When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer PPRO, Geoffrey Ogbonna, also confirmed the incident but said efforts were on to rescue the victims.
