Police in Ebonyi, Friday, confirmed the rescue of abducted village head of Oshiagu Amia Ngbo, Igwelede Community, Ohaukwu Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, and three other victims.
The village head was abducted on Thursday alongside three others by unknown gunmen.
She said the victims were rescued by the divisional police headquarter of Ohaukwu in collaboration with the local vigilante.
Odah said the villages didn’t report the incident yesterday to the police until someone called her to confirm the incident, she now called the DPO of Ohaukwu division.
“The victims have been rescued and will soon be reunited with the family. But it’s bad that such thing happened and nobody reported it to the police. Someone called me to ask about the issue, that was when I called the DPO and they swung into action.
“The reason for the abduction is not yet known but we will soon interact with the victims to hear from them”, she said
The abductors stormed the village in their numbers wearing army camouflage. On sighting the camouflage, the villagers thought they were soldiers special duty in Effium.
A source from the village, Mr Amia Amos Otubo, who witnessed the attack narrated: “We were relaxing at the village square when the gunmen stormed the village square in army uniforms. Each bike carried three persons. We were relaxed when we saw them, thinking that they were military men on special duty because of the crisis in Effium community in Ohaukwu Local Government Area of Ebonyi State.
“The incident that happened in my village today was terrible. Our village head was kidnapped by the men who came with different motorbikes into the village. When we saw them coming, my friend sitting next to me said their movement was strange to him and told me that he was no longer comfortable that he wanted to go home. But I told him to stay back that nothing will happen.
“Not quite long after that, we started hearing people screaming on top of their voices running from one place to another also calling their children to go and hide in a safe place.
“I and my friend had to take cover too because the village had been thrown into confusion. They continue to shoot for about 45 minutes to one hour before they abducted our village head and four other persons. They would have abducted more but because of the way people were screaming on top of their voices they decided to leave with the persons they had already abducted.
“We are living our lives in fear and tension because nobody knows what will happen by tomorrow or when next they will come back.”