Bandits abduct 5 people after bus ambush in southwest Nigeria

By Ibrahim Garba Shuaibu

KANO, Nigeria (AA) – Bandits abducted five people after ambushing a passenger bus on a highway in southwestern Nigeria early on Thursday.

The bus with 18 passengers was heading from the state of Ondo to the capital Abuja.

Men wielding sophisticated weapons stopped the bus and dragged away five people into the surrounding woods, Ifanyi Okwo, one of the passengers who escaped the attack, told reporters.

Hakeem Sadiq, chief of the area police, said special police teams and other security agencies have launched a hunt for the abducted people.

- Professor rescued

A retired professor has been rescued a day after he was abducted in Nigeria’s southwestern Ogun state, local media reported on Thursday.

Fasasi Olanigan was kidnapped by Fulani herdsmen while traveling with a companion from Abeokuta, capital of Ogun, to the town of Imasai, according to the victim’s wife.

He was rescued by hunters in a forest in the Isaga area, local online newspaper Premium Times reported.

The kidnappers had contacted Olanigan’s family on Wednesday night and demanded 25 million naira ($60,000) for his release, the report said.

Olanigan was treated at a local hospital for minor injuries and has been reunited with his family, according to the report.