Gunmen on Monday kidnapped the Oba of Idofin and his wife in Yagba East LGA in Kogi.

The ruler, Shedrack Durojaye Obibeni, and his wife were reportedly kidnapped along Makutu-Idofin road at about 5:00 p.m.

Abdulrasak Asiru, Yagba East council chair, confirmed the abduction and described it as “very shocking” and “sad.”

Mr Asiru said he was in shock over the incident, which had not happened in the area for almost two years.

“I, as the council chairman and the people of Yagba East, are in great shock over the kidnap of our respected oba and his wife this evening. This is because we in this LGA have a very robust security architecture keeping vigil and warding off criminal elements away from us,” stated the politician. “This incident was well planned by the kidnappers because from what I learnt, the Oba and his wife only moved out to see something and in less than 10 minutes, that incident happened.”

Mr Asiru added, “We smell a rat over this sad incident, and we are not resting until we get to the criminal elements who did this dastardly act and rescue our traditional ruler and his wife.”

The council boss said alerts and messages had been sent to all the traditional rulers and community leaders in Okun land to be vigilant and conduct a thorough search to rescue the couple.

“As we speak, our hunters and vigilante group are already out into the bushes searching for the criminals so as to rescue our Oba and his wife as soon as possible,” noted the LG boss.

The police spokesman in Kogi, SP Williams Ovye-Aya, said he had yet to be briefed by the DPO of the affected area on the incident.

(NAN)