By Charles Pemu 
ABUJA—Panic has gripped the Federal Civil Service following the high-profile abduction of six female Directors from the Federal Ministry of Defence by gunmen along the dangerous Kabba-Lokoja highway in Kogi State on November 10, 2025.
The senior officers, all staff of Command Day Secondary School (CDSS), Ojo, Lagos, were traveling from Lagos to Abuja to take a mandatory Directorate-level promotion examination when they were intercepted in a well-coordinated ambush.
The incident has sent shockwaves through the Ministry of Defence and the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN). In a joint statement, ASCSN President Shehu Mohammed and Secretary-General Joshua Apebo confirmed the names of the kidnapped Directors as: Mrs. Ngozi Ibeziakor, Mrs. C. Emeribe, Mrs. Helen Ezeakor, Mrs. C. Ladoye, Mrs. J. Onwuzurike, and Mrs. Catherine Essien.
The ASCSN vehemently condemned the attack and disclosed that the Defence Ministry has already mobilized specialized security operatives to secure the victims’ safe rescue.
The union used the opportunity to reiterate its long-standing demand for a policy change: “We have always advised the Federal Civil Service Commission to conduct promotion examinations in the states instead of compelling public service employees to travel long distances to Abuja. The current security situation and deplorable road conditions expose workers to grave risks.”
The abduction comes amidst a heightened period of insecurity in the North-Central region, as no fewer than three youths from the Migil clan were recently killed by bandits along the Gidan-Raid Road in Kwara, Keana Local Government Area of Nasarawa State.
The victims were reportedly sent on an errand by clan elders when they were killed. This follows a previous attack at the neighboring community of Sarkin Noma, where two youths were shot dead and one was abducted two days prior.
The recent wave of attacks and senseless killings in Nasarawa communities has provoked an extraordinary public reaction, with many grieving residents appealing directly to US President Donald Trump to consider Nasarawa State in his widely reported plan to “wipe out terrorists” in Nigeria. During the mass burial of the three youths, tearful sympathizers openly urged Trump to “hurry up in his planned invasion,” contrasting sharply with other Nigerians who kick against the planned foreign military attacks.
The Ministry of Defence, meanwhile, has reportedly intensified efforts, deploying specialized teams to comb suspected hideouts in Kogi State to locate the abducted Directors.