A policewoman attached to the Ondo State Police Command, on Friday, escaped being kidnapped by three suspected ritualists in Akure, Ondo State capital.
The woman who boarded a commercial taxi after closing from her Ijapo Police Station, when the driver of the car diverted the car to another route before the policewoman raised alarm.
According to the policewomen, two of the men in the commercial taxi was said to have been discussing money ritual when the woman overheard their discussion and made her uncomfortable.
The screaming of the woman attracted some people who started chasing the taxi, while the driver ran into a ditch and the three occupants of the car were apprehended.
It, however, took the intervention of policemen from Ijapo police Station who prevented the three ritualists from mob attack and were subsequently arrested.
Confirming the incident, the Ondo State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Femi Joseph, said the three men had confessed to being ritualists.
Joseph said “they confessed to being kidnappers and ritualists. What they do is to lure their victims into the car, hypnotize them to unknown destination for rituals or Kidnap,” Joseph said
He said the three suspects who are already in police custody will be charged to the court upon completion of the investigation.
Also, four gunmen suspected to be herdsmen have reportedly abducted a middle-aged man, Oyewale Akinwande (aka Honourable Wale) at his sawmill factory site in Idoani, Ose local government area of Ondo State.
The gunmen who invaded the sawmill as early as 9:00 am along Ipele /Idoani road were armed with machetes, guns and other dangerous weapons.
A source who spoke to Nigerian Tribune, said the armed men shot sporadically into the air before seizing Akinwande, dragging him out of the sawmill.
He, however, said the suspected armed men were Fulani herdsmen who had taken over the farmland in the community and called on security agents in the state to curb incessant invasion of the armed men in the area.
However, it was gathered that the kidnappers had demanded N5m as a ransom for the release of the man.
Confirming the incident, the PPRO, Femi Joseph, said the Police in the state have been on the trail of the abductors and assured that the perpetrators would be brought to book.
and then