Gunmen have abducted a monarch at Akoko in Akoko North-West local government area of Ondo.

Clement Jimoh Olukotun, the Oloso of Oso at Ajowa-Akoko, was kidnapped by the suspects on Thursday evening. 

The armed men stormed the palace of Mr Olukotun at exactly 10:15 p.m. and forcefully gained entry before dragging him away. 

A family source who did not want her name mentioned told The Gazette on Friday that the gunmen shot sporadically to scare away residents and repeatedly banged on the palace’s door.

“Realising that the monarch and his family were not ready to open, they shot at the door and destroyed it completely before gaining access into the building to perpetrate the crime,” said the source. “After entering, they took time to terrorise Kabiyesi (Mr Olukotun) and his family members before he was dragged away.” 

The source added, “As I speak, none of the family members has been contacted, but we knew they were kidnappers.”

The police spokeswoman in Ondo, Funmilayo Odunlami, confirmed the kidnap to The Gazette. 

Ms Odunlami, however, said the details of the incident were still not clear at the time of contacting her.

“Our men from the Divisional Police headquarters at Oke-Agbe have been deployed to the town to launch an investigation into the incident,” she said.

Recently, some monarchs in the Akoko area raised the alarm over the continued invasion of criminals from border towns.

In August, aged women went half-naked in protest to draw security agencies’ attention to their plight.