On January 8th, at around 4 P.M., a group of people were waiting to board a train at Tom Ikimi Station, in southern Nigeria, when they were suddenly attacked by a group of men armed with AK-47s. After many were shot at, the kidnappers left with 32 people, Reuters reported.
The Edo state information commissioner, Chris Osa Nehikhare, says that one of the abductees was able to escape.
“At the moment, security personnel made up of the military and the police, as well as men of the vigilante network, are intensifying search and rescue operations in a reasonable radius to rescue the kidnap victims,” he said. “We are confident that the other victims will be rescued in the coming hours.”
The Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) has closed the station until further notice. Last month, the NRC reopened a railway service in between two other stations after suspected bandits blew up tracks. Seven passengers were killed. Investigators have yet to determine if the two incidents are related.
