The Kogi State Police Command has stepped up rescue and search operations after a kidnapping along the Okene–Auchi Road, deploying a joint force of police and military personnel into forest areas believed to be hideouts for the abductors.
Police say the response began immediately after the incident, with intelligence-led bush-combing operations launched across forest corridors in the Okene–Ajokuta axis, focusing on the Ebiya Forest and surrounding areas.
The operation draws on personnel from the Area Command in Okene, the 77 Police Mobile Force Squadron, the Okene and Adavi Divisions, the state Anti-Kidnapping Unit, the Violent Crime Response Unit, and Nigerian Army detachments from Forward Operating Bases in the area. The Edo State Police Command has also sent reinforcements, including its own Anti-Kidnapping Unit.
To close off possible escape routes, security agencies have tightened joint patrols along the Kogi–Edo border, carrying out coordinated clearance operations in forest locations tied to the abduction.
During the search, security teams located and searched suspected criminal hideouts, recovering foodstuffs, cooking items, an Army-pattern jungle hat and a National Identity Card believed to have been left behind by the kidnappers. The sites were subsequently destroyed.
No victims had been recovered as of the initial search phase, but police say operations pushed on into the following day, Saturday, 8 August, with tactical teams advancing toward the Ajaokuta and Adoko axes. Drones deployed by the Nigerian Army and the Edo State Police Command are being used to support surveillance and intelligence gathering.
The Commissioner of Police, Kogi State Command, CP Naziru Bello Kankarofi, has directed operational teams to sustain the search until the victims are safely recovered and those responsible are apprehended. He has assured the public that the Command, working with allied security agencies, will pursue the perpetrators until they are brought to justice, and has appealed to residents near the affected areas to stay calm, remain vigilant, and share credible information that could aid the operation.
Separately, the Command has moved to contain fallout from reprisal killings in Abugi and neighbouring communities. The Area Command in Lokoja, alongside community and traditional leaders, has held reconciliation talks aimed at restoring peaceful coexistence and addressing the roots of the conflict.
A full investigation has been opened through the State Criminal Investigation Department to identify and arrest those involved in the killings, with police personnel remaining stationed in the affected communities to prevent further violence. Officials say that although normalcy has returned to Abugi, the restoration of calm will not halt the investigation, and anyone found culpable will face prosecution.
The Commissioner reaffirmed the Command’s commitment to protecting lives and property across the state and urged residents to remain law-abiding and to promptly report suspicious activity to security agencies.
