After ransom payment, 8 kidnapped victims regain freedom in Ekiti
EMERGENCY DIGEST: Gunmen on Tuesday night set free eight kidnap victims after payment of ransom by their relatives.
The victims were released at a forest at Ikun Ekiti in the Moba Council Area of Ekiti State.T
hey comprised the wife and daughter of a man who was shot dead in his car by kidnappers along Ayetoro – Ewu Ekiti Road on Friday.
The six others are a pastor, his wife and four other women who were abducted on Saturday morning allegedly at Otun Ekiti in the Moba Council Area on their way to Offa and Ilorin areas of Kwara State.
A source, who alleged that four abductees whose relatives had not paid their ransom were still in the kidnappers’ den, disclosed that the pastor and his wife had gone to rejoin their families, while the remaining six were receiving medical attention at an undisclosed hospital in Ekiti State.
Kidnap of the two guests happened when four members of a family, who had come from Lagos to attend a social event at Ewu Ekiti, who were traveling along the Ayetoro-Ewu Ekiti Road in a Lexus SUV were attacked by gunmen.
The gunmen killed a man in the vehicle, abducted his wife and daughter while the other occupants escaped.
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A source said, “The two kidnapped guests have regained their freedom. They were freed on Tuesday night in the forest at Ikun Ekiti. The release was after we had paid ransom. I will not disclose the amount paid to the gunmen for security reasons, but we paid.”
Another source, who said he was part of the team that took ransom to the forest, said, “The kidnappers are young Fulani men dressed in black pullover and black fez cap. They are armed with AK47. One of them even threatened saying “if you move further, I will waste you”.
“The four of them that I saw are below the age of 30, pointing their guns at us. They did not count the money, they only asked me to confirm that it was complete. We dropped the money at about 2pm, but they released the two guests alongside six others at about 8pm,” he said.
The gunmen had shortly after the kidnap of the man’s wife and daughter on Friday contacted the family and demanded N50million ransom.
The Police Public relations Officer, Ekiti Command, Sunday Abutu, confirmed the freedom, saying, “Yes, they have been released. All those kidnapped around that time have been released.”
Abutu, who said he was not aware of any ransom paid, said, “It was the combined efforts of the police and Amotekun Corps who combed the bush and put the people under pressure which culminated in their release.”
THE PUNCH
