Gunmen kidnap passengers along Akure-lkere highway

Gunmen have reportedly abducted an unspecified number of passengers along the Akure-lkere highway.

Funmi Odunlami, spokesperson of the Ondo State Police Command, who confirmed the incident, said that the number of victims remained unknown.

According to Odunlami, the men of the anti-kidnapping section of the command had started combing the forest in lkere, Ekiti state and Akure, in Ondo state

According to her, “no official report from the family or families of the owner of the two vehicles found at the scene of the incident and no report of missing people in the state.

Odunlami, however, assured that the state police command would soon unravel what took place and rescue the victims if it was a case of abduction.

Odunlami, however, said it was not clear whether the kidnappers had contacted the family members for ransom.

A video being circulated on social media showed two abandoned vehicles, a Toyota Corolla and a white Highlander, riddled with bullets, on the highway while their occupants were said to have been kidnapped and taken into the forest around Iju.

A source in the area confirmed that the incident happened on Thursday night and that the two vehicles were intercepted by gunmen

According to him, the vehicles were riddled with bullets, it was obvious that the drivers were forced to stop by the gunmen.

“The kidnappers might have marched them into the bush, the incident happened in the evening and it came to our knowledge on Friday morning when we saw the vehicles riddled with bullets”

“We’ve reported the incident to the police in the area and they had visited the scene of the incident but we’ve not heard anything from them since.

In the meantime, reports say that operatives of the Ondo state security outfit, otherwise referred to as Amotekun, have been deployed to the forest to smoke out the kidnappers and rescue the victims.