…As Kidnappers demand N90m Ransom For Aabducted Funeral Guests
By Charles Edet
Amotekun Corps quick response to a kidnap incident along Ifon in Ondo State failed to rescue 18 of the victims abducted by kidnapper who were returning from funeral ceremony.
However, the Amotekun Corp personells who reportedly responded to the distress calls of the victims, who were on there way to Ifon from Iwatto in Edo State got to point of the attack, and immediately ransacked the forest and captured 7 suspected kidnappers while two were said to have escaped.
The kidnappers who abducted the funeral guests sought a ransom of N90 million before releasing the victims
The kidnappers were said to have demanded between N3 million and N10 million on each victim in order to free them.
The victims were abducted in Ifon, Ondo State, a border town with Edo State, while returning from a burial service in Ewatto, Edo State.
According to Mrs. Bamidele Ademola-Olateju, the Ondo State Commissioner for Information and Orientation, the state government was not participating in the ransom negotiation when she made this announcement at a news conference in Akure.
The Commissioner said, “paying a ransom gives kidnappers the more authority to continue in their crime.
“The victims went for a burial at Ewatto town. They were returning in a 32-seater Coaster bus hired from Rufus Giwa Polytechnic when they were attacked by suspected kidnappers. The kidnappers shot into the air and took 18 of the passengers.”
“Those remaining called the Amotekun Corps who got to the scene within 15 minutes. Among those in the bush, seven were found and two others escaped.”