SOME 24 hours after the abduction of the Secretary of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Kayode Agbeyangi, gunmen suspected to be kidnappers on Sunday evening struck again, abducting two members of the staff of Akure North Local Government Area of Ondo State, Marcus Akinduko and Gabriel Ajayi.
According to a source, the gunmen ambushed the vehicle of the victims and three others, who were coming from a funeral ceremony in Ifira Akoko, in Akoko Southeast Local Government area of the state.
He said that the hoodlums intercepted the vehicle and ordered all the five passengers out of the car before picking two as a hostage and dragged them into the bush.
The kidnappers who had demanded N50 million ransom for the freedom of the two victims took the phone of one occupant of the vehicle, Mrs Fadeke Adeseeke, before leaving the scene, ordering them to lie flat on the ground.
He explained that the kidnappers used the phone to contact the family of the victims, threatening not to release the two victims until they make the money available.
A family source also confirmed that the kidnappers have contacted the two families, demanding for N50m ransoms in order to secure the release of the captives.
This two local government staff were abducted just as the NURTW in the state is sourcing for N5million to secure the release of the Secretary of the union, Agbeyangi who was abducted along Akure/Ilesa road in Osun State at the weekend.
The NURTW was said to have been kidnapped in the early hours of Saturday while he was travelling to Lagos State to meet members of his family.
Agbeyangi vehicle was found along the Akure-Ilesa expressway in Osun State, and the abductors had contacted the family of the victim, demanding a sum of N5million ransom but the source said the family was yet to make the money available as at the press time.
The chairman of the union in the state, Jacob Adebo, who confirmed the incident said, the scribe was kidnapped on the expressway at Ilesa area.
He said “He was kidnapped when he was travelling to Lagos and the kidnappers have called the family. They said the family should give them N5million before he could be released and there is no way we can get N5million.
Adebo said the suspected kidnappers insisted that he would not be released until the ransom is paid. He said the union is sourcing for the fund in order to secure the release.
The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr Femi Joseph, confirmed the two kidnapping incident but said the abduction of NURTW Scribe, happened outside Ondo State and it was not reported in the state.
He, however, said the suspected kidnappers have not contacted the families of the two local government staff to demand ransom.
He said the Police would do everything possible to secure the release of the civil servants.
His words “The incident did not happen in our jurisdiction, if it had happened here, our men would have taken action immediately.”
Meanwhile, a student of the College of Education, Ikere Ekiti, Ekiti State, identified as Akintunde Adegunloye was reportedly found dead in his friends’ room at the State Specialists Hospital, Ondo town, Ondo State.
Adegunloye was said to have visited two friends who were a member of the National Youth Corps in the state but was found dead in their room.
The PPRO of the state command, Joseph, said the deceased left his school in Ekiti State to visit his friends who were pharmacists and members of the National Youth Service Corps, serving in the government-owned hospital in Ondo.
Joseph explained that the cause of the death of the deceased was yet unknown to the police but said the command had commenced an investigation to unravel the cause of the incident.
He said, “The deceased paid his friends a visit in Ondo, the friends were corps members who are serving at the hospital. We learnt that the friends got home on a fateful day and found him (deceased) dead in the room.
“We have invited the two corps members and as I am speaking with you they are still with us, we are interrogating them on the matter.”
Joseph, however, said the father of the deceased had informed the command that the family was not interested in going to court over the matter, saying the corpse should be released to them.
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