Gunmen Kidnap Six Defence Ministry Directors in Kogi, Raise Security Concerns
Story: written by Daniel November 13,2025
Six senior officials of the Ministry of Defence were abducted by gunmen in Kogi State while travelling from Lagos to Abuja on Monday for a promotion examination. The victims—Ngozi Ibeziakor, C.A. Emeribe, C. Helen Ezeakor, C.A. Ladoye, J.A. Onwuzurike, and Catherine O. Essien—were reportedly led into a nearby forest after their convoy was intercepted and their vehicles abandoned.
The Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN) confirmed the incident on Wednesday, condemning the attack and calling on the Federal Government to strengthen security measures for civil servants on official duties.
Security agencies have launched a coordinated search and rescue operation, although the Ministry of Defence has yet to release an official statement.
Sources say the forest terrain, weak policing, and local support networks are enabling gangs to operate with impunity, particularly along the Kabba–Lokoja highway, which has become a hotspot for kidnappings and armed attacks. Recent incidents in the area include the killing of travellers, abductions along the Ayere–Kabba route, and previous attempts to kidnap passengers, highlighting growing insecurity.
The abduction of high-level civil servants marks a disturbing escalation, drawing attention to the vulnerability of official travel routes in the state. In January 2025, protests erupted in Odo-Ape, Kabba-Bunu LGA, following the killing of two farmers by suspected kidnappers, prompting the state government to uncover criminal networks operating in Kabba/Bunu, Ijumu, and Yagba East. Subsequent operations led to the arrest of 26 suspects in the Bunu Forest for kidnapping-related activities.
Poor road conditions, particularly along the Kabba-Mopa-Isanlu-Egbe Highway, which links Kwara State, are also contributing to the rise in robberies and abductions by armed gangs in the region.
