Barely 24 hours after gunmen killed first class Ondo Monarch, Oba Israel Adeusi, the wife of Olugbenga Ale, chief of staff to Rotimi Akeredolu, governor of Ondo state, has been abducted.
This happened while the state was mourning the death of the Olufon of Ifon, Oba Israel Adeusi, who was reportedly killed by some gunmen suspected to be kidnappers. She was abducted at Owena in Idanre local government area of the state on Thursday night. Jomog News Nigeria reports.
This incident was confirmed by Tee-Leo Ikoro, who is the police public relations officer in Ondo, to journalists on Friday but did not go into details.
He said, “The Commissioner of Police has ordered all the police divisions in the area to go after the hoodlums with the assistance of the military and I hope that very soon we shall have good news from there.”
A source, who confirmed the incident to our correspondent said, “I can confirm to you that the wife of the Chief of Staff was kidnapped last night (Thursday) and her whereabouts are not known yet and the kidnappers have not contacted the family.
“I think she was coming from Lagos with a driver and two other people in the car. She was kidnapped along with the driver and one other person. Security men were in the forest last night searching for her.”
The source said she was coming from Lagos on a business trip when her vehicle was stopped and she was whisked away alongside two other persons.
One of the passengers fled into the bush while Ale’s wife, her driver and one other woman were not lucky.
The gunmen were said to have later released the driver but still kept the two women.
Ikoro said security operatives were combing the forest to find and rescue the victims.
The incident, according to residents in the area, has since led to apprehension among workers in the steel plant quarters.
It was gathered that the suspected kidnappers initially abducted three workers but released one based on health grounds.
A family source told our correspondent on Friday that the kidnappers had called in, demanding N1.2m ransom.
“Where will they get such an amount of money in this hard time? The kidnapped victims are just managing to feed themselves and their families. They are just using farming to support their jobs. With the recent development, many residents are now scared of going to their farms.”
Meanwhile, Akeredolu has ordered security agencies to fish out the killers of the first-class monarch.
The governor in company with top government officials, who visited the spot where the monarch was killed, described the incident as a sad occurrence.
Also, two staff members of Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited, resident on the premises of the steel plant in the Ajaokuta Local Government Area of Kogi State have been abducted by gunmen.
The Police Public Relations Officer in Kogi State, William Aya, said the command had not received official information about the incident.
He however promised to get back to our correspondent but had yet to do so as of press time.
