Police and local hunters in Ondo State rescued 12 passengers early Saturday after two commercial Hummer buses travelling from Benue State to Ibadan were violently intercepted in Isua Akoko, the headquarters of Akoko South‑East Local Government Area, officials said.
Ondo State Commissioner of Police Felix Ohagwu visited the scene as operatives from the Ondo State Police Command, local hunters and other security stakeholders carried out bush‑combing operations across surrounding forests and difficult terrain to find the abducted passengers.
"The command received a distress report at about 0130hrs that two commercial Hummer buses conveying passengers from Benue State en route Ibadan had been violently intercepted by suspected armed kidnappers," said police spokesperson Abayomi Jimoh, recounting the initial call for help.
Jimoh said the attackers forced several passengers out of the vehicles and marched them into a nearby forest, prompting police to "immediately activate a coordinated rescue operation as operatives of the Command, alongside local hunters and other security stakeholders, were swiftly mobilised to the scene with the primary objective of rescuing the victims and apprehending the perpetrators."
The combined security team intensified intelligence‑led surveillance and strategic tracking efforts to trail the fleeing suspects, and their sustained pressure "yielded significant success as 12 kidnapped victims, including the drivers of the affected buses, were successfully rescued alive," Jimoh said.
The rescued victims were taken to hospital for medical attention and support, and "arrangements are being made to reunite them with their families," Jimoh added. One of the vehicles involved was reported as an 18‑passenger Ibadan‑bound bus that was intercepted at Isua in Akoko South‑East Local Council Area.
After the rescue, Ohagwu held strategic engagements with community heads, local vigilante groups and other stakeholders in the area to shore up the response and deployed additional tactical and intelligence assets to reinforce the rescue and manhunt operations, senior officers said.
Despite the success in recovering 12 people alive, authorities stressed that efforts are ongoing to rescue any remaining victims and to bring the perpetrators to justice, and operatives continued to comb forests and difficult terrains while tracing the suspects.
The incident comes amid a broader anti‑crime push across the state. Reporting on regional operations has noted arrests and prosecutions of suspected criminals, and security actors have resorted to a mix of policing, vigilante support and intelligence work to confront kidnappers and other armed groups.
Whether the recent reinforcements and intensified intelligence operations will be enough to locate any remaining victims and dismantle the networks behind these ambushes will determine if Saturday’s operation is a one‑off tactical success or the start of a sustained crackdown on the gangs operating in the forested corridors of Ondo State.
For readers tracking related developments, Round Time News has covered other rescue operations in the region, including a recent Rukubi rescue in Nasarawa:
