Gunmen Kidnap Community Health Worker and Wife in Kogi
Armed bandits abducted a local health practitioner and his wife during an early morning raid in Kogi State. The gunmen attacked the Okebukun area of Iluke town in Kabba-Bunu Local Government Area around 1:00 am on Thursday. Known locally as “Dr Ebi,” the victim runs a clinic that serves the agrarian settlement. The attackers forced the couple onto motorcycles before fleeing into nearby forests. To deter any immediate rescue attempts by residents, the criminals fired heavy bursts of gunfire into the air as they escaped.
The violent intrusion sparked panic across the Bunu district and neighbouring communities in Mopamuro and Ijumu local government areas. Rural medical workers face growing risks in isolated regions where state security presence remains sparse. The local economy relies heavily on farming, leaving settlements highly vulnerable to mobile bandit networks. This latest raid highlights a pattern of targeted rural abductions designed to extort cash from prominent community members.
Bunu district has endured a severe breakdown in law and order over recent weeks. Just weeks earlier, on May 4, a gang blocked the Iluke-Oferre road and seized a commercial driver at gunpoint. The captors subsequently demanded a 50 million naira ransom for his release, a sum that remains unpaid as negotiations stall. State road networks in the area have become perilous zones for traders and commuters alike.
The regional crisis previously hit the local traditional leadership with devastating brutality. Gunmen raided the nearby village of Odai on April 16, capturing five relatives of the paramount ruler, Professor Wonder. The gang demanded 150 million naira and executed two of the monarch’s children when the payment was delayed. The attackers distributed graphic images of the killings on social media to terrorise the family. The traumatised ruler has since been hospitalised while his surviving relatives remain in captivity.
Law enforcement agencies have offered little reassurance to anxious residents. State police command spokesperson, Assistant Superintendent Saliu Afuzat Oyiza, acknowledged enquiries but failed to provide an official statement on the latest abduction. Locals increasingly feel abandoned to their fate as criminal gangs operate with impunity across the state’s rural interior.