The Imo State Police Command has confirmed the killing of a driver and the abduction of several passengers after gunmen attacked two vehicles on Sunday in Amala, Ngor Okpala Local Government Area.
The attack occurred barely a week after gunmen assaulted the advance team of Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, along the same route, though no casualties were recorded in that incident.
In a statement released on Monday evening, the Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Henry Okoye, said the assailants ambushed the travellers and whisked the victims away to an unknown location.
According to the statement, “The Commissioner of Police, Aboki Danjuma, has launched an intensive operation with other security agencies and local vigilante groups to apprehend the hoodlums behind the attack and abduction of motorists at Amala Autonomous Community, Ngor-Okpala, on December 7, 2025, and possibly rescue the kidnapped victims.”
Preliminary investigations revealed that around 5:50 p.m., armed men emerged from a bush path and shot the driver of a Toyota Highlander SUV (SMK 514 BD). They also abducted passengers travelling in a Lexus RS300 (FSD 334 XA).
Okoye added that officers from the Ngor Okpala Division quickly mobilized to the scene, secured the area and rushed the injured driver to the hospital, where he was confirmed dead.
He said joint security operatives have begun bush-combing, search-and-rescue operations and suspect-tracking within the Amala forest axis and neighbouring communities. He assured that efforts to rescue the abducted victims are ongoing, with “promising progress” already recorded.
