The driver and 18 passengers of a Port Harcourt-bound Akwa Ibom State Transport Corporation bus were on Wednesday, last week, abducted by yet-to-be-identified gunmen, PUNCH Metro learnt on Monday.
The incident, our correspondent gathered, occurred along the Azumini boundary between Akwa Ibom and Abia states.
PUNCH Metro gathered that the bus had left its Uyo terminal passing through Iwukem in the Etim Local Council Area before the passengers were intercepted by their abductors in the Azumini area of the road.
A source who pleaded not to be mentioned told our correspondent that the gunmen stopped the bus driver after shooting into the air while others came out from the bush and joined in the shooting spree.
The source added that all the passengers were ordered to come out of the vehicle or be killed if they did not oblige.
“The driver was the first person to come down. Other passengers were ordered to follow suit immediately. The kidnappers moved all of them to the bush and escaped with them. The whereabouts of the passengers are not known for now,” the source said.
The Akwa Ibom State Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Timfon John, who confirmed the incident while speaking with journalists on Monday, said the police were still monitoring the situation.
“That incident happened along the Azumini area of the road after the Etim Ekpo Local Government Area. All I can say is that the police are still monitoring the situation now,” the PPRO said.