Gunmen Abduct 4 In Ekiti, Demand N20m Ransom

Four persons have been kidnapped by some gunmen along Oke Ako-Irele road in Ikole local government area of Ekiti State.

The victims, it was gathered, were travelling in a commercial car and a mini-truck on the road leading to the border town when their abductors struck.
Sources told journalists in Ado Ekiti yesterday that the incident occurred on Wednesday at about 7.30pm added that the kidnappers had contacted victim’s families and demanded N20 million ransom for their release.

They were said to have been ambushed by the gunmen at a pothole-ridden portion of the road that links Ekiti and Kogi border.

The driver, who is from Ipao Ekiti and a passenger, the source said were abducted in the commercial vehicle, while the driver and his assistant were taken away in a charcoal laden -mini-truck.

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, 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 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 was heading 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 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”.