Fatimah Otunsanya
Abductors of two residents of Ora Igbomina, a community in Osun State along the boundary with Kwara State, have demanded N100 million to release the victims.
The victims, Tayese Adeyeye and Sunday Adewumi, were seized by gunmen suspected to be bandits during an attack on a private residence along Aran-Orin Road in the Papa area of the town on Sunday, February 1.
Residents said the attack occurred minutes before midnight, as the gunmen stormed the house and fired shots into the air to scare people before whisking their targets away into the bush.
Immediately after the incident, the Osun State Police Command said it launched a manhunt for the perpetrators of the crime.
Sources close to the family, however, told the newsmen on Monday that the abductors have “reached out to us and demanded a sum of N100 million to release them.”
One of the sources, who preferred anonymity for security reasons, said the abductors contacted the family “through the mobile line of one of the two men that they abducted during the weekend and made the demand.”
He added, “They called us through the mobile line of one of the two men they abducted and placed a ransom of N100 million before us. We don’t have that kind of money. We are praying they will reduce the amount.”
When contacted for updates regarding efforts to rescue the victims and the ransom demand, Osun Police Command spokesperson, Abiodun Ojelabi, said the “search and rescue operations by the operatives are still ongoing.”
He, however, stated that the command was not informed of any ransom demand, adding that the Commissioner of Police, Ibrahim Gothan, has made additional deployments to the community to rescue the victims.