Gunmen suspected to be kidnappers have abducted two farmers in Parubber Community, Ile-Oluji/Okeigbo Local Government Area of Ondo State, with their captors reportedly demanding N100 million for their release.
The victims were said to have been working on their farms when the gunmen stormed the area and took them into a nearby forest.
A farmer who escaped the attack, Yemi Omowale, said the incident occurred while he and the victims were tending to animals on the farm.
Omowale said he noticed a masked man armed with an AK-47 moving towards one of the victims, identified as Adetan Adebanjo Gbemi, before other members of the gang appeared from different directions.
“Because we were not standing together, I saw him first. The attacker was masked and carrying an AK-47. Before I could raise an alarm, he had already moved toward Gbemi, and others emerged from different directions,” Omowale said.
He said he succeeded in escaping from the scene, but the assailants also abducted another farmer, a woman whose name has not been made public.
According to the survivor, the kidnappers later established contact with the wife of one of the victims and demanded N100 million for the release of the two farmers.
“They still call the wife of the victim, asking her how much she has raised so far,” Omowale said. “We are begging the security agencies and the government to help us rescue our brother and sister unharmed.”
Omowale said the matter had been reported to the police and the Ondo State Security Network Agency, also known as Amotekun.
While confirming the incident, the spokesman for the Ondo State Police Command, DSP Jimoh Abayomi, said the Oke-Igbo Divisional Headquarters had received a report concerning the missing persons.
Abayomi said security personnel, including operatives of the Anti-Kidnapping Squad, local hunters and vigilantes, had been mobilised to search for the victims and apprehend the abductors.
“Search and rescue operations are currently ongoing, with all available operational and intelligence resources being deployed to locate the victims and bring the perpetrators to justice,” Abayomi said.
He assured residents that security agencies were intensifying efforts to secure the victims’ safe release, urging members of the public to remain calm and provide information that could assist the ongoing operation.
