Olayiwola Matthew
Suspected terrorists attacked travellers along the Ibadan–Ijebu road in Oyo State last Saturday, causing panic among road users.
Ayanlade Olayinka, public relations officer of the Oyo State Police Command, confirmed the incident, stating that one person was killed.
He, however, noted that no abduction occurred during the attack.
“There was an attempted kidnapping but nobody was abducted. One life was unfortunately lost,” Olayinka said.
Footage circulating on X from the scene shows a bus riddled with bullet holes and stained with blood.
The incident comes amid increasing cases of attacks and abductions on Nigerian highways, reflecting broader security concerns across the country.
Last week, gunmen abducted 17 passengers from a Benue Links bus along the Makurdi–Otukpo road in Benue State.
According to reports by Zagazola Makama, a counter-insurgency publication focused on the Lake Chad region, troops of Operation Whirl Stroke (OPWS) later rescued 13 of the victims.
Three others had earlier escaped from captivity.
The report quoted security sources as saying the rescue operation was carried out on Sunday during a sustained search-and-rescue mission in a forest in Okete ward, Ohimini Local Government Area.
Some of the abducted passengers were reportedly students travelling to sit for the 2026 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
“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 stated.
“The attack was, however, hastily attributed to external groups without proper verification.”
