A prayer session held in the secluded Egbola area near Agbaja Road, Lokoja, ended in terror as armed men stormed the site and kidnapped several attendees during a night vigil on Friday, April 11.
Eyewitnesses reported that the attackers arrived suddenly and began shooting into the air to intimidate worshippers before whisking some of them away into the forest.
In response to distress calls, operatives from the Kogi State vigilante service were dispatched to the area.
A shootout reportedly ensued between the vigilantes and the assailants.
During the chaos, one of the kidnapped individuals, Mary Adams Gure, managed to escape and was later rescued by the local security team.
A vigilante source said Gure’s safe recovery was due to the team’s prompt arrival at the scene.
Search operations are currently ongoing to find the remaining victims. Authorities have not released an official number of those abducted in the raid.