The Police in Benue State have rescued 13 more passengers abducted along the Otukpo–Adoka road while travelling from Enugu to Abuja last week.

Our correspondent reports that the latest rescue, brings to 18 the number of victims rescued from the kidnap incident which happened along between Ankpechi-Omutele villages along the Otukpo-Adoka road.

Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Peter Aondongu, in a statement on Friday, indicated that the victims were rescued at about 2am on Thursday, at Amla-Icho Forest in Otukpo Local Government Area, following five days of sustained search and rescue operations by the police and local security personnel.

Aondongu stated that operatives, acting on credible intelligence, launched a night operation into the forest where they encountered the kidnappers and their victims.

He said that the kidnappers fled under the cover of darkness, abandoning the victims, who were rescued unhurt.

The police spokesman said the operation followed an earlier gun battle with the suspects on August 16, during which one of the kidnappers was neutralised.

He said an AK-47 rifle and five rounds of live ammunition were recovered after the gun battle, while efforts were being intensified to track and arrest the fleeing suspects.

Aondongu also explained that the latest rescue exposed discrepancies in the passenger manifest, as the initial record indicated that only nine victims remained after five had earlier been rescued.

The PPRO added that subsequent verification, however, established that four additional passengers were not captured in the manifest, bringing the latest number of rescued victims to 13.

He said that the rescued passengers were taken to a medical facility for attention before being transported to their respective destinations in a chartered bus.

The Commissioner of Police, Cletus Nwadiogbu, commended the operatives for their courage and resilience, urging transport operators to maintain accurate passenger manifests to facilitate identification and rescue during emergencies. (Daily Trust)

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