No fewer than 19 people were abducted on Monday in separate attacks across Rivers and Imo states, as insecurity worsened despite renewed federal efforts to curb violent crime nationwide.
In Rivers State, five students of the Rivers State University (RSU) Emohua Satellite Campus were kidnapped in the early hours of Tuesday when gunmen suspected to be cultists stormed their off-campus residence in Emuoha, Emohua Local Government Area.
The assailants reportedly shot and killed a security dog before whisking the students away at gunpoint. One student, who narrowly escaped, said he fled under gunfire as the attackers chased him into the bush.
The abduction occurred barely a week after students living off-campus protested rising cult attacks and demanded relocation to the main campus in Port Harcourt. But RSU Vice Chancellor, Prof. Isaac Zeb-Obipi, on Monday dismissed relocation plans, insisting the school was working with community leaders and security agencies to strengthen security.
Police spokesperson, SP Grace Iringe-Koko, confirmed the incident, describing the attackers as cultists. She said tactical teams had been deployed, and the Commissioner of Police was on the ground to coordinate rescue efforts.
Meanwhile, in Imo State, suspected herdsmen hijacked an Aba-bound commercial bus and abducted all 14 passengers on board along the Ngor Okpala axis of the Owerri–Aba Road.
Eyewitnesses said the gunmen emerged from the surrounding bush, fired sporadically and seized control of the vehicle, forcing other motorists to flee in panic. The area has recorded multiple similar mass kidnappings since 2025, with at least two fatalities in previous attacks.
The Imo State Police Command said the latest incident had not yet been formally reported, but disclosed that tactical units had been deployed on a fact-finding mission along the route.
The twin attacks came the same day President Bola Ahmed Tinubu nominated former Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, as the new Minister of Defence following the resignation of Mohammed Badaru. The President also met with security chiefs amid rising concerns over nationwide insecurity.
The House of Representatives has called on the federal government to identify and prosecute the killers of five policemen murdered in Bauchi last week.
