The victims which included the Chairman of ADC in the state, Bisi Ogungbemi, Mrs Funmi Abraham, Idowu Adeleke and Moses Ubi, were released to their families after spending four days in the captives of their abductors.
The victims were kidnapped by gunmen along Oba Akoko/ Owo road on Wednesday evening while travelling to Akure, the state capital after a senatorial meeting in Ikare Akoko in Akoko North East Local Government area of the State.
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The ADC House of Representatives candidate for Akoko Northeast/Northwest Federal constituency and former speaker of the state House of Assembly, Dr Bakita Bello confirmed the release of the party’s leaders by their kidnappers.
Bello however, could not confirm the amount of paid as ransom to secure the release of the abducted ADC leaders.
A Family source however disclosed to Sunday Tribune that a ransom of N15 million was paid for the five people before they were released by the kidnappers.
According to the source, the kidnappers requested for N20m for each of the victims but reduced the ransom to N3m after negotiating with their families, saying the sum of N15m was paid for the release of the victims.
Narrating his ordeal, Ipinsagba described the four days spent in the den of the kidnappers as horrible saying that they were made to live like animals in the forest.
He explained that they were forced to trek for over four hours in the jungle before getting to the kidnappers’ den.
He said ” they fed us with garri and water for about three days while we were forced to sleep on the bare floor in the cold.
He said the kidnappers who were speaking Hausa language, numbering ten threatened to kill their victims of their families failed to pay the ransom.
He, however, said they were released around 12 midnight on Friday night at the spot where they were kidnapped and got home around 2 am on Saturday.
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