13 Passengers Rescue from Kidnappers in Kwara

Hammed Shittu in Ilorin 

About 13 passengers reportedly kidnapped by suspected kidnappers along Obbo-Osi Road in Ekiti Local Government Area of Kwara State have been rescued by men of the vigilante groups.

Already, one of the passengers who sustained serious injuries during the attack has been hospitalised in one of the hospitals in Osi town.

The incident, according to THISDAY checks happened around 3.00 p.m on Friday when the bus conveying the passengers was coming from Abuja, en route to Ilorin. 

It was gathered that the suspected kidnappers were said to have intercepted the bus at gunpoint and attacked all the occupants inside it and were later moved into the bush along  Obbo-Osi Road.

Sources added that on getting the information of the kidnapping of the passengers, men of the Vigilante groups in the area were said to have mobilised themselves into the bush and pursued the suspected kidnappers until the passengers were rescued.

It was further learnt that, during the operation, one of the passengers was said to have been shot by the kidnappers in the leg and was hurriedly taken out of the bush for medical attention.

Contacted, the state police command Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Toun Ejire-Adeyemi, who confirmed the incident, stated that all the abducted passengers had been rescued successfully.

Also speaking with journalists in Ilorin yesterday, the National President of Isolo Opin Development Association in Ekiti Local Government Area of the state, Mr. Alaba Kumuyi, who confirmed the incident, said the vigilantes in the area have reduced 13 passengers kidnapped by the suspected kidnappers while one of them that sustained serious injuries has been taken to hospital for medical attention.

Kumuyi who decried the activities of the suspected kidnappers in the area urged the government to take more proactive steps to stem down the incessant activities of kidnappers along major towns in Ekiti Local Government Area of the state.

He added that the activities of the suspected kidnappers have prevented many farmers from going to their farms.

Kumuyi also said that the ugly situation has led to the untimely death of innocent members of the communities in the local government in the state.