Nigeria Shock and Anguish as Gunmen Strike, Kidnap Dangote Cement Employees in Edo State

Suspected bandits ambushed a bus transporting Dangote Cement workers in Edo, kidnapping dozens of employees and shooting several others in a chilling attack.

In a chilling display of insecurity plaguing Nigeria, gunmen ambushed a bus carrying workers from Dangote Cement and abducted an unspecified number of employees in a brazen attack near the town of Okpella in Edo state.

According to witnesses, the attack unfolded on Monday evening as the coaster bus was transporting staff from the cement company. Suspected bandits opened fire on the vehicle, forcing it off the road in a hail of gunfire. "Other people are in the bush. My colleague has bullet wounds. A coaster bus filled with staff was attacked at Okpella. Kidnappers," a witness recounted. "They kidnapped our whole staff bus. Kidnappers took our staff."

While conflicting reports emerged amid the chaos, witnesses claimed dozens of Dangote employees may have been abducted. Several other workers were also shot during the ambush, though the extent of casualties remains unclear.

Michael Odofin, a spokesperson for the cement company, confirmed the attack but said the situation was still unfolding rapidly. "I cannot give any details right now. The attack is still fresh. We have no one killed," he stated.

The brazen assault represents a serious breach for Dangote Group, one of Africa's largest industrial conglomerates known for deploying extensive private security to protect its operations across Nigeria from militant groups and kidnappers.

Yet it also underscores the worsening insecurity gripping parts of Nigeria, where loosely organized armed gangs have increasingly paralyzed economic activity through kidnapping for ransom, surrounding communities living under their reign of terror.

The mass abduction follows a pattern of more audacious and sophisticated attacks, with militants growing emboldened by their ability to overwhelm security forces unable to curtail their expansion across the northwest. As authorities scramble to locate the missing workers, the uncomfortable truth remains that a climate of lawlessness persists in many regions, with the state's monopoly on violence steadily eroding. With no clear solutions, more violence appears inevitable as marauding criminal gangs extend their grip.