Dare Babalola
A female lawyer, Onyesom Peace Udoka, has regained her freedom four days after she was abducted by gunmen while travelling from Abuja to Benin, Edo State.
Udoka was kidnapped on September 26, 2025, around Okene, Kogi State, along with 11 others while returning from the Call to Bar ceremony held in Abuja on September 23, 2025.
While eight of the abductees were released earlier, she remained in captivity with four others until her release on Monday.
The victims’ brother, Godspower Onyesom, confirmed their release to The Punch in a telephone conversation on Tuesday.
Confirming her release, Godspower said, “She has been released. She is back home.”
In an accompanying viral video, 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.”
Her release was also confirmed by Nigerian activist Harrison Gwamnishu in a post on Facebook.
Gwamnishu, who is an ex-aide to the Delta State Governor wrote, “Freedom on her birthday. Peace Onyesom Udoka and Gift Onyesom, kidnapped while returning from the Call to Bar ceremony in Abuja, have just been released to us at a village near Okpella. It’s a tough journey. Details later today or tomorrow morning.”
This incident is not the first instance of kidnapping along the Abuja, Kogi, and Benin expressways.
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.
