Armed gunmen, weekend attacked and abducted passengers in an 18 seater bus along the Ikare- Irun Akoko -Ado Ekiti highway in Ondo state.
The victims were returning from a party held at a community in Ekiti state and were traveling back to lkare, in Ondo state on Saturday.
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Some of the victims are cateereers who had gone to cook at a party.
Confirming the abduction, the Commander of the state’s security outfit codenamed Amotekun, Chief Adetunji Adeleye, confirmed the attack and abduction of the travelers.
Adeleye, however, told newsmen that his men hhadbeen able to rescue some of the abducted travelers
According to him ” My men and soldiers from Ekiti are combing the forest.
The hoodlums did not kidnap the 18 passengers on the bus. “Some of the passengers escaped themselves, while our men with soldiers rescued some of the victims in the night. Our men are combing the forest as we speak.”
The attack occurred on Saturday around 6 pm. The victims according to an eyewitness account are from Irun Akoko, Ikare Akoko, and Ekiti communities.
The source said that a young boy escaped from the kidnappers while his mother and her staff were not lucky and they were wised into the forest by their abductors.
One of the victims who escaped, Toyin Ogunyemi, while narrating his ordeal, said the kidnappers had not contacted the family of the victims for ransom to secure their freedom.
Another source said that Military personnel, alongside Amotekun Corps from Ekiti and Ondo states, in collaboration with local vigilantes, are conducting search operations in the forests to secure the safe release of the victims.
Contacted the state police command’s spokesperson Funmi Odunlami, who confirmed the abduction of the Passengers.
Odunlami said that ” four people came to the station and reported that while on their way from Ado Ekiti to Ikare at Oyinmo camp, irun- Ado Ekiti road, they were attacked by unknown gunmen but they escaped through the bush.
She said that the police search team had been deployed to the area and assured that the victims would be rescued unhurt soon.
(CDA News)
