Bandits have abducted a local farmer and his labourer in the Oke Oge area of Oba Ile in Akure North Local Government Area of Ondo State.

The two men were seized on Saturday evening while returning from the farm – a stone throw to the Akure Airport on the popular Oba Ile road where they had gone to work.

A source, also a farmer, who preferred anonymity, confirmed the abduction of the two men on Sunday, saying the bandits dragged the victims into a forest near the scene.

He added that the bandits have also contacted the families of the victims, demanding ransom.

“The kidnappers are asking for N15 million as ransom,” the source told reporters on Sunday.

Confirming the incident, Ondo Amotekun Corps commander Adetunji Adeleye said his personnel had been deployed to rescue the victims.

“I can confirm to you that we are on top of the situation, but our men are inside the forest in collaboration with other officers in the mission to comb the bush and rescue the farmer and his labourer,” he told Peoples Gazette via telephone.

The abduction is coming exactly a week after ten travellers in a passenger bus were waylaid and seized at Ipele on the notorious Owo/Benin expressway.

The victims were coming from Akwa Ibom in the southern part of the county, heading to Lagos in a commercial vehicle when they were kidnapped.