Suspected terrorists attacked travellers along the Ibadan–Ijebu road in Oyo State last Saturday, killing one person, police have confirmed.
Ayanlade Olayinka, public relations officer of the Oyo police command, told TheCable that there was an attempted kidnapping but no abduction took place. “One life was unfortunately lost,” Olayinka said.
Social media footage from the scene shows a bus riddled with bullet holes and stained with blood.
The attack comes amid rising cases of abductions on Nigeria’s roads. Last week, armed men kidnapped 17 passengers from a Benue Links commercial bus along the Makurdi–Otukpo road in Benue State.
According to Zagazola Makama, a counter-insurgency publication focused on the Lake Chad region, troops of Operation Whirl Stroke (OPWS) later rescued 13 of the abducted passengers. Three others had earlier escaped from captivity.
Zagazola quoted security sources as saying the rescue was achieved on Sunday during a sustained search-and-rescue operation in a forest in Okete ward, Ohimini LGA of the state. Some students travelling for the 2026 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) were reportedly among the victims.
“Security sources further clarified that the perpetrators were local criminal elements in Benue and not Fulani bandits as initially speculated in some quarters,” the publication reads. “The attack was, however, hastily attributed to external groups without proper verification.”
