Kidnappers have demanded N30m to release a funeral guest, Mr Ayo Alabi, who was abducted at Eleyin village between Oke-Onigbin and Omu-Aran in the Irepodun Local Government Area of Kwara State.
The gunmen got in touch with one of his friends, Mr Williams Owolabi, on Sunday and demanded N30m for his release, JomogNews Nigeria reports.
Alabi was returning from a funeral at Osi in the Ekiti LGA of Kwara State on Saturday evening when six armed men emerged from a bush and attacked the Sienna vehicle he was travelling in.
The gunmen reportedly intercepted the vehicle on the Okeonigbin/Omu-Aran highway, as they ordered the seven occupants of the vehicle to come down.
However, the police, after a gun battle with the assailants, rescued four of the victims, while the kidnappers escaped with Alabi and two other passengers.
Meanwhile, our correspondent learnt that a commercial Toyota Hiace bus conveying 20 passengers and a car being driven by a pastor and his wife were also simultaneously intercepted by the gunmen at Ekan Meje/Ekiti area in Kwara South.
Although the 20 passengers were rescued by the police, the hoodlums escaped with the pastor and his wife.
A spokesman for the state police command, Ajayi Okasanmi, who confirmed the three cases, said some arrests had been made.
Okasanmi, in a press statement late on Sunday, said the suspects were helping the command in its investigation, adding that “the situation is under control.”
In a related development, a farmer, identified only as Suyi, has been kidnapped in the Ikole area of Ekiti State.
Sources said the victim went to his farm in the Okejebu area of Ikole Ekiti, but did not return home at the close of the day.
A family source said, “At about 6pm when he did not return home, efforts to reach his phone line were futile. It was along the line that a call came in from someone who demanded N5m for his release.”
The Ekiti State Police Public Relations Officer, Sunday Abutu, who confirmed the incident, said investigation was ongoing.
“We appeal to our people to be security conscious at all times,” he added.
