A newly called-to-the-bar lawyer, Peace Onyesom, and her sister, Gift Onyesom, who were kidnapped along the Okene-Auchi road on Friday, have regained their freedom.

The victims’ brother, Godspower Onyesom, confirmed their release to The PUNCH in a telephone conversation on Tuesday.

Recall that Peace had participated in the Nigerian Law School call-to-the-bar ceremony on September 23.

She was returning to Benin, Edo State, alongside her sister when they were kidnapped.

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Confirming her release, Godspower said, “She has been released. She is back home.”

In an accompanying video sent to our correspondent, Peace thanked everyone who had come to her rescue while saying that the military rescued them.

She said, “Thank you, everyone. My sister and I have been rescued. The military in Okpella has rescued us.”

Similarly, an ex-aide to the Delta State Governor, Harrisson Gwanishu, confirmed that Peace and her Sister have been released.

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Gwamnishu wrote, “Peace Onyesom and Gift Onyesom, kidnapped while returning from the call to ceremony in Abuja, have just been released to us near a village in Okpella. It is a tough journey.”

Efforts to get the reaction of the Kogi State Police Public Relations Officer, Williams Aya, proved abortive as he did not respond to calls made to his line as of the time of filing this report.

The Nigerian Police Force Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, in a post on his X page on Sunday, disclosed that eight of the abducted persons were rescued.

This incident is not the first instance of kidnapping along the Abuja, Kogi, and Benin expressways.

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In February, a member of the National Youth Service Corps serving in Ibadan, Oyo State, Rofiat Lawal, was kidnapped by unidentified gunmen along the Benin-Ore Expressway.

Her friend, who identified as Agbakwara, had raised the alarm about Lawal’s abduction, stressing that she was returning from Benin, Edo State, to report to her place of primary assignment in Oyo when she was abducted.

She was, however, released after her family paid a ransom of N1 million.

Similarly, on September 9, the Kogi State Vigilante Services confirmed the abduction of three passengers of an 18-seater Toyota bus at Aku village along the Okene-Lokoja Expressway.

Motorists, traders, and residents along the Benin-Agbor Road have lamented the slow and chaotic spate of repairs on the federal highway, which, according to them has damaged their vehicles, disrupting transport, business activities, and general livelihoods.

Despite ongoing rehabilitation works by the Benin-Asaba Expressway Concession Company Limited, road users said the efforts are moving too slowly to address the worsening conditions.

The road, which has shown signs of severe wear and failure since 2018, when former governor Godwin Obaseki labelled it a federal road, has deteriorated over the years due to poor drainage design and lack of maintenance.

A section of the road, stretching from the Christ Chosen Church of God main gate through Guinness Warehouse and Winners chapel, up to the Jehovah Junction, has been excavated and left with deep gullies which often leave heavy duty vehicles fallen in parts.

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A resident of Ikhueniro near the bad stretch, Frederick Asuen, said since moving into his apartment in 2023, daily commuting has become a struggle.

“Since I parked into my apartment in 2023, it has been a nightmare coming into the city and going back home at close of work.”

“I had to be leaving my car, an SUV at home to use public transport. That is after repeated breakdown inside the gullies and expensive trips to my mechanic and Imma not alone.

” Many who live at Okhuahie and Uvbe using this road have all given up. And I praise the shuttle bus drivers and all commercial vehicles who have no option but to use this road daily. My brother it is like hell”.

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He explained that journeys that should ordinarily cost ₦700 and between 60 and 90 minutes now costs ₦1200 and often last 3 to 4 hours, especially in the morning and evenings.

Tuesday Elemi who operates a bus along the route said the road’s condition has killed their operations.

He said the bad sections of the road have reduced the number of trips they can make daily.

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“The bad state of the road has increased damages to our vehicles even at the risk of our lives occasioned by trucks that often get stuck, tip over, or are parked for days,” he said.

“The end result is abandoned goods or offloaded from trucks, and security concerns including kidnappings along certain stretches.”

Elemi added that besides vehicles experiencing damages and requiring frequent repairs, fuel consumption has also quadrupled due to longer travel times and diversions.

Three persons have been killed in a road accident that occurred near the Ogba River bridge in Oredo Local Government Area of Edo State.

A commercial motorcyclist popularly known as Okada rider and his two passengers were involved.

Eyewitness accounts said the accident occurred on Monday night.

The witnesses said the driver of an SUV car lost control and rammed into the okada rider killing him and his passengers.

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Colleagues of the late okada rider took to the streets to protest incessant killings occasioned by accidents along the Airport road.

They claimed the driver of the car was into advance fee fraud known locally as Yahoo Yahoo.

One of the protesters, Abdullahi Usman, said the deceased okada rider was their Secretary.

“These yahoo yahoo boys do not care about another person on the road.

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“The accident was very severe. It was the Divisional Police Officer at the Estate Police Station that calmed the situation.”

Edo Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps, Cyril Matthew Zango, could not be reached for comments.

However, the Spokesperson of the Edo State Police Command, Moses Yamu confirmed the accident and said that investigation is continuing on the matter.

“I can confirm to you that the accident and the Okada rider and his passenger were killed. However, investigation is ongoing to bring anyone that is liable to justice.”