A community search-and-rescue operation spanning Delta and Edo states has exposed the gruesome killing of one of two palm wine tappers abducted in Emuhu, near Agbor, triggering shock, grief, and renewed insecurity fears among residents.
The crisis started on Wednesday evening when the two men, popular locally for their daily journey into the bush to tap palm wine, were seized by gun-wielding kidnappers, sending panic through the agrarian settlement.
According to Zagazola Makama, the abduction prompted an immediate suspension of local activity, as community leaders reached out to security agencies, triggering a multi-unit ground response and forest dragnet.
A community rescue coordinator who first raised the alarm described abandoning all engagements to personally join and coordinate the rescue push, as anxiety mounted over the men’s safety.
In a sweeping mobilisation effort, soldiers of 63 Brigade, operatives of several Police units, and local security groups launched a coordinated push into the forests.
The rescue trail spread through: Emuhu, Abavo, Obi-Ayama, Obi-Ayama and down toward the deep Urhonigbe terrain in Edo State.
The combined force included community-based units such as the Emuhu Vigilante Group and specialised security actors, pushing the search across inter-community boundaries.
Hope came briefly in the dense woods of Urhonigbe in Edo State, when rescuers recovered one of the victims alive, physically depleted, severely traumatised, and in a state of emotional collapse.
Community sources said the survivor appeared exhausted, dazed, and barely able to communicate when initially found.
When the rescued man eventually spoke, he disclosed that his colleague had been killed moments after his family, terrified and impoverished, offered kidnappers ₦10,000 – reportedly the only amount they could raise.
The insurgents, enraged, allegedly deemed the sum an insult and murdered the second victim instantly.
The account shifted the entire operation from rescue to recovery, leaving the community distraught.
The rescue revelation stunned locals, community trackers, and security volunteers who had monitored the search with optimism, only to see it end in tragedy.
What should have been an ordinary day for two bush-bound workers ended in terror, loss, and community mourning.
A rescue team member summed up the moment saying: “This is the painful reality our people are facing. Families too poor to pay ransoms, communities living in fear, and criminals treating human lives as bargaining chips.”
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