A night of prayers turned into a nightmare on Friday when armed men stormed a mountain-top vigil in the Egbola area, Lokoja Local Government Area, Kogi State, abducting an unknown number of worshippers.
The attackers believed to be armed kidnappers, struck in the dead of night, firing indiscriminately to terrorize the congregation before dragging several worshippers into a nearby bush.
A woman, identified as Mary Adams Gure, was rescued by local vigilantes who responded swiftly after receiving word of the attack. The rescue followed a fierce gun battle between the vigilantes and the kidnappers.
“They came shooting to scare everyone. People were running in different directions. Some were captured and taken away into the forest,” a local source told Daily Trust.
In the confusion, Gure managed to escape and was later found by the vigilantes, who quickly mobilized to confront the gunmen.
“The vigilantes were mobilized quickly and engaged the gunmen in a gunfight. In the process, Mary Gure was rescued.
A search-and-rescue operation is ongoing to find the remaining victims,” a vigilante member confirmed.
The exact number of those abducted remains unclear as of press time.