Gunmen have abducted three persons from Inoyi-Affa, in Udi Local Government Area of Enugu State, with joint security operatives rescuing one of the victims and intensifying efforts to secure the release of the remaining two.
The Enugu State Police Command, in a statement on Sunday by its spokesperson, SP Daniel Ndukwe, said a joint security team comprising police operatives, Forest Guards and members of the Neighbourhood Watch Group responded swiftly after the abduction, forcing the fleeing kidnappers to abandon one of the victims during the operation.
According to Ndukwe, the abduction occurred in the early hours of Sunday, August 2, 2026 within the precinct of a church at Inoyi, Affa Community.
He said security operatives, while closing in on the fleeing suspects, forced them to abandon one of the victims, who was rescued unhurt, while the assailants escaped with the remaining two victims.
The police did not identify the victims or state their occupations.
“The operatives, while closing in on the fleeing suspects, forced them to abandon one of the victims, who was immediately rescued unhurt. The assailants, however, escaped with the remaining two victims,” the statement said.
Although the police didn’t mention the name of the church, however, a viral video circulating on social media claimed that the attack was carried out at St. Joseph Catholic Church.
In the video, a man speaking in Igbo said seven armed kidnappers carried out the attack, abducting a seminarian, a catechist and a church member while residents were preparing for church service.
The unidentified man confirmed that police operatives responded to the incident shortly after it occurred. He added that community youths mobilised in large numbers but could not pursue the kidnappers because they were unarmed.
The police said the Commissioner of Police, Enugu State Command, CP Mamman Bitrus Giwa, had directed the Area Commander, Oji River, and the Head of the Command’s Violent Crime Response Unit (VCRU) to intensify ongoing operations and deploy all available operational assets to ensure the safe rescue of the remaining victims and the arrest of the suspects.
The Commissioner also directed the Assistant Commissioner of Police in charge of the State Intelligence Department (SID) to generate actionable human and technical intelligence to support the operation and ordered the activation of the surveillance and technical capabilities of the Enugu State Command-and-Control Centre to strengthen the rescue efforts.
Giwa urged residents of the community to remain calm and continue providing credible and actionable information to the police, assuring them that every available resource was being deployed to secure the safe rescue of the remaining victims and bring the perpetrators to justice.
The Police Command has yet to officially confirm the identities of the victims or the number of attackers mentioned in the viral video.