The incident, PUNCH Metro learnt, took place around 5.30pm on Tuesday along the Mile 2 area of the Ishiagu-Okigwe Expressway.
The victims were said to be returning home from Enugu Airport with an airport taxi (Sienna bus) with number plate KWL 941 PD before they were kidnapped at the Mile 2 area, Ishiagu, in the Ivo Local Government Area of the state and taken into the nearby bush by their assailants.
A community source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, identified the victims as one 41-year-old Ajah Chibuzor; his wife; their 12-year-old daughter; and the taxi driver.
The source further revealed that the hoodlums had while taking the victims into the bush, ran into a farmer on his farm and also abducted him.
He stated that the vehicle conveying the victims was abandoned at the scene of the incident, but was later recovered and taken to the Ishiagu Police Station.
When contacted, the Special Assistant to Governor on Internal Security, Ivo Local Government Area, Ike Cletus, confirmed the incident.
He regretted that the council area had become a haven for kidnappers.
Cletus said, “It is unfortunate that Ivo Local Government has become a haven for kidnappers and other criminal elements. We have a non-functional vigilante group in the local government. You hardly see them anywhere in the local government, yet money is spent on them monthly without any fruitful result.
“The security architecture of the local government, especially that of the Local Vigilante Group, must be overhauled and made more efficient.”
Efforts to reach the state police command for comments on the matter, failed as of the time of filing this report, on Wednesday.
Calls made to the mobile of the state Police Public Relations Officer, SP Onome Onovwakpoyeya, were not taken.
She was yet to respond to messages sent to her line.
No fewer than 20 persons have been kidnapped in the area in the last four months.
