By Emmanuel Ani Panic had gripped the residents of a section of Ekiti State, as suspected gunmen allegedly abduct four persons along...
By Emmanuel Ani
Panic had gripped the residents of a section of Ekiti State,
as suspected gunmen allegedly abduct four persons along Oke Ako–Irele Road in
Ikole Local Government Area of Ekiti State, on Wednesday.
Multiple sources confided in newsmen in Ado Ekiti on
Thursday that the incident occurred at about 7.30pm and that the kidnappers had
started demanding N20 million ransom.
Those abducted were said to be occupants of a commercial car
and a mini-truck travelling on the road that leads to the border.
The victims were said to have been ambushed at a
pothole-ridden portion of the road that links to Ekiti and the Kogi border.
The sources alleged that the driver, who is from Ipao Ekiti and
a passenger were abducted in the commercial vehicle, while the driver and his
assistant were taken away in the mini-truck, which was said to be conveying
charcoal.
The source said: “We were in a meeting at about 8pm on
Wednesday when we got information that there were two vehicles with doors
opened and the headlights on the road, but that there was nobody in the
vehicles.
“On getting there, we saw a commercial vehicle and a
mini-truck. But before we got there, the occupants of the two vehicles had been
abducted by the kidnappers. The abductors had been calling since Wednesday
night requesting N20 million as a ransom for the victims.
“In the course of the phone call from the den, we got to
know the victims are four and that the passenger boarded the commercial vehicle
at Irele Ekiti and headed to Ayedun Ekiti.
“The commercial car driver said he did not know where they
were in the bush but that all he knew was that they were near a river as they
could hear sounds of a flowing river. However, men of the Police Rapid Response
Squad, Amotekun Corps and local hunters have been combing the bush to rescue
them. it is our prayer that they get them hale and hearty”.
A source specifically added that the communities in Ekamefa,
comprising Irele, Ijowa, Oke Ako, Ipao, Itapaji and Iyemero were living in fear
of the kidnappers, who he said had surrounded the area.
Speaking with journalists on the incident, the spokesman for
Ekamefa, Oluwafemi Abayomi, said: “Insecurity is a big problem in our area
here. Our people are not safe, nobody can go to the farm again without being
kidnapped.
“Ekamefa calls on the state and federal governments to help
us, we are helpless in the hands of the gunmen. There are soldiers at Ipao,
there are soldiers at Oke Ako. This kidnap incident happened around there, we
need help,” Abayomi said.
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