A joint security patrol operation has disrupted a major kidnapping attempt targeting a group of Chinese nationals in the Mowe axis of Ogun State.
While the tactical intervention successfully prevented the abduction of the foreign nationals, the encounter turned tragic. One brave soldier and four civilian hostages were killed after fleeing armed bandits ambushed security forces and used captured workers as human shields.​
The high-stakes encounter occurred at a remote dredging site located in Magbon Village, within the Obafemi-Owode Local Government Area of the state. According to military briefs released by the 35 Artillery Brigade, Alamala, Abeokuta, a joint team of soldiers and personnel from the Nigerian Police Force rushed to the area following an emergency distress call from the site.​
The rapid escalation highlights the volatile security situation surrounding industrial and mining outposts in South-West Nigeria, where remote operations frequently draw the attention of heavily armed criminal syndicates.​
The Ambush and Fierce Gunbattle at Magbon Village​
The joint security patrol team arrived at the Magbon dredging site only to face a pre-arranged ambush staged by the heavily armed gang. The criminals immediately opened fire upon sighting the security vehicles, triggering a fierce exchange of gunfire in the forest perimeter.​
During the initial firefight, the joint forces maintained tactical discipline and neutralized one of the lead attackers. Facing superior firepower, the remaining assailants abandoned their primary objective—the Chinese expatriates—and began a chaotic retreat through the thick forest terrain toward the banks of the Ogun River.​
However, to complicate the security pursuit and secure their escape route, the retreating bandits seized five local workers from the site, using them as human shields to deter the closing Quick Response Force (QRF).​
Hostages Executed Along the River Channel​
As the Quick Response Force intensified its tracking operation through the bush, the criminals chose to execute their captives rather than surrender. Before escaping across the Ogun River in a pre-positioned getaway boat, the gunmen shot and killed four of the hostages.​
One hostage managed to escape the execution circle, hiding in the undergrowth before navigating back to the security lines. The surviving victim provided critical eyewitness accounts to the military, revealing that the fleeing gang members carried the body of their neutralized accomplice into the boat to prevent identification.​
Despite the successful intervention that kept the Chinese nationals safe, the operational toll was heavy. Aside from the murdered hostages, one soldier was killed on the frontline, while another soldier and two police officers sustained severe gunshot injuries during the initial ambush.​
Official Statement from the 35 Artillery Brigade:
“The joint security team was ambushed by armed men suspected to be kidnappers while responding to a distress call around a dredging site where expatriate workers were engaged in operations. A fierce exchange of fire ensued, during which one of the attackers was neutralized. Regrettably, a soldier lost his life during the encounter, while another soldier and two police officers sustained gunshot injuries. The four hostages were later killed by the fleeing attackers before they escaped through the river channel in a boat.”
​Aftermath, Cordon Operations, and Local Government Response​
The Assistant Director of Army Public Relations for the 35 Artillery Brigade, Major Idereghi Samuel Akari, confirmed that the bodies of the fallen soldier and the four deceased hostages have been recovered and deposited at the mortuary of the General Hospital in Sagamu. The three injured security personnel are currently receiving emergency clinical treatment at an undisclosed military medical facility.​
Local security updates indicate that the Ogun State Police Command has flooded the Mowe and Obafemi-Owode riverine borders with additional tactical assets. DSP Oluseyi Babaseyi stated that a joint bush-combing exercise is underway in collaboration with local hunters and vigilante groups to locate the hidden boat landing sites along the river.
​Tragically, police updates confirmed that a local hunter assisting with the search operations lost his life during an encounter in the brush with the fleeing criminals.​
This incident has prompted community leaders along the Ayegun and Mowe river corridors to demand permanent security checkpoints around all foreign-operated infrastructure and dredging hubs. The state government has warned local boat operators that anyone found assisting suspicious individuals or transporting wounded men across the Ogun River network will be treated as an accomplice to terrorism.
