Gunmen over the weekend abducted a lecturer, two civil servants and children who were travelling from Owo to Akure after a ceremony.
It was gathered that the victims were abducted in two different locations.
The first victim, identified as Mr Michael Olopete, is a lecturer in the Department of Marketing at the Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo. He was reportedly abducted on the Owo-Ipele Road.
The civil servants – Ayewunmi Ogunsemore of the Forestry Department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Bunmi Falodun who is attached to the FADAMA programme – were abducted around the bad portion of the Owo-Ose-Akoko road. Also children whose parents were driving through the Ogbese and Ilu-Abo road on the Akure-Owo road were kidnapped.
Rahman Abubakri, a Senior Lecturer of Mass Communication Department at Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, who escaped being kidnapped by the gunmen, confirmed the incident.
He said,
“Around 5:20pm on Saturday evening, I narrowly escaped being kidnapped around Ilu-Abo on my way to Akure after a wedding ceremony which I attended at Omuo Ekiti. Nigerians are under siege. I saw the Fulani shooting sporadically from a distance. The bushes and thick forests we don’t care to go into have been well-studied by these Fulanis. Unfortunately, some kids were taken away by the kidnappers,” he said.
“[At] almost the same time, a lecturer of the Department of Marketing, Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo was kidnapped by the same Fulani herdsmen between Ipele and Owo Road. Another kidnapping took place at Oba Akoko. Three persons fell victim as they were taken away into the bush. My colleagues missed being kidnapped on Friday evening.” Abubakri said
Confirming the kidnap the Public Relations Officer, Ondo State Police Command, Mr Femi Joseph, said the command had commenced investigation into the incident.
“I don’t have the details yet, but it is true that it happened and we have commenced investigations,” he stated.
It would be recalled that four persons had last week been abducted by some gunmen suspected to be Fulani herdsmen at Amurin village on the Ikere-Owo Road, Owo Local Government Area of the state.
Three of the victims were members of staff of the Federal Medical Centre, Owo, while the other one was a lecturer at the RUGIPO, Mr Taiwo Akinyemi.
However, the medical workers regained freedom after the ransom was paid by their families, while the lecturer died in the kidnappers’ den.
Meanwhile, following the recent abduction of workers of the FMC, the Association of Resident Doctors, FMC, Owo branch, has threatened to embark on an industrial action if the state government refuses to put in place visible and effective measures to curb the activities of kidnappers.
The President of the association, Dr Bolarinwa Olawale, said a case whereby civil servants, in the course of going to their places of work, were being kidnapped and heavy ransom paid, and the victims and their families left in a state of psychological, emotional and financial trauma, was no longer acceptable.
He stated,
“In view of this, we are lending our voices to the cry of the NMA and the NBA in Ondo State that Governor Rotimi Akeredolu should please ensure the beefing up of the security apparatuses in the state.
“While appreciating the efforts of the security agencies in the state for their swift response, we wish to state unequivocally that we may not be able to guarantee industrial harmony if the government refuses to put in place visible and effective measures, which will help curb the activities of these kidnappers.”
