Some gunmen on Monday kidnapped 11 passengers in a bus along the Ndele-Elele area of East-West Road in the Emohua Local Government Area of Rivers State.

The victims were travelling to Ndele, Elele and Ahoada before the incident happened.

It was gathered that some of the passengers narrowly escaped the kidnap because they alighted before the vehicle got to its final destination.

Bright Welekwe, one of the victims who escaped from the kidnappers a few hours after the abduction said three of the passengers alighted at Ndele before the incident occurred.

He said 17 persons in the vehicle were forced into the bush at gunpoint.

He added that he met four of the passengers, who he said had also escaped, adding that the police later came to rescue five of them at that point.

Welekwe stated, “We were 19 that boarded a bus from Rumuokoro on our way to Ahoada, but when we got to Ndele, three people disembarked. It did not take long; along the bush between Ndele and Elele Alimini, hoodlums ambushed us and took us inside the bush. Four other persons and I escaped before police personnel arrived at the scene.

“But I am sure they did not rescue the rest that night even with the help of soldiers. Police officers carried five of us to a place where we boarded another vehicle to our destinations.”

State police commissioner, Zaki Ahmed, confirmed the incident on a radio programme.

Azeez