Oyo: Police rescue two female sales staff abducted in Ilero

Seven nights after being held hostage, the two female sales staff who were abducted from an agrochemical products shop in Ilero, Oyo State, regained freedom in the early hours of Tuesday.

The Oyo State Police Command disclosed the rescue of the victims in a statement by its spokesman, CSP Adewale Osifeso, on Wednesday.

Tribune Online learnt that the ladies were abducted from the shop located at Oke-Are, Ilero, last Wednesday at about 8 p.m.

The police PRO stated that the rescue came after a “swift and coordinated operation by the intelligence and tactical assets of the command, in concert with local hunters and vigilantes,” adding that the girls were located and found unharmed.

He said the rescued victims had been made to go through a thorough medical examination to ensure their health and well-being and had also been reunited with their families.

According to him, efforts were ongoing to apprehend the suspects involved in the act.

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He reiterated the Command’s commitment to protecting the lives and property of all residents while advising them to remain alert and report suspicious activities to the Oyo State Call Response Centre (615) or the police control room on mobile phone numbers 08081768614, 09054133071 or 09061299291.

Tribune Online also learnt that the police operatives, in collaboration with personnel from other security agencies, had combed the bushes in the surrounding communities, including Baba Ode, close to Komu, where the victims were eventually rescued.

A community member, who craved anonymity, said that the victims, whose names were given as Kindness and Kaosara, told the story of how they walked in the bush with their abductors throughout the time they were held hostage, and only lay down to sleep at night.

The ladies also spoke of how they were fed with garri and water throughout their stay with their abductors.

The Commissioner of Police, Johnson Adenola, was in Ilero and Iganna Towns on Sunday to placate the youths who had become restive over the abduction of the two victims, coupled with the murder of a farmer, Jofo Abdullahi, by suspected herdsmen.

CP Adenola had assured the community members that the police, in collaboration with personnel from other security agencies, would go all out in rescuing the victims.

In addition to the initial moves to rescue the victims immediately after their abduction, the security personnel promptly followed the CP’s fresh directive and began the search until the rescue.

NIGERIAN TRIBUNE