Police comb Ondo forests as bandits abduct 10 passengers

The Ondo police spokesperson said that information at the disposal of the police indicated that seven persons were abducted by the hoodlums.

Tosin Ajuwon • February 4, 2025

Police, Forests and Ondo

Gunmen suspected to be bandits have reportedly kidnapped 10 travellers in a passenger vehicle en route the Ipele road on the Owo/Benin expressway in Ondo State.

It was gathered that the victims were abducted on Sunday while transporting from the southern part of the country and heading to Lagos in a commercial vehicle.

Sources said on Tuesday that the vehicle driver was forced to stop by the bandits before the victims were marched into a thick forest.

“The passenger vehicle was stopped by the bandits, and the occupants numbering 10 were marched into a bush,” one of the sources who spoke on condition of anonymity said.

Another source who spoke on condition of anonymity stated that some motorists who saw the bus parked by the roadside observed the belongings of the travellers left by the road.

He added that the incident was quickly reported to the security agencies in the area, stressing that the vehicle had been moved to the nearest police station.

The spokesperson for the Ondo Police Command, Funmilayo Odunlami-Omisanya, confirmed the incident to Peoples Gazette during an interview on Tuesday.

A Chief Superintendent of Police, Mrs Odunlami-Omisanya, said that information at the disposal of the police indicated that seven persons were abducted by the hoodlums.

She, however, revealed that officers from the command had joined other security agencies in the state to comb forest to rescue the kidnapped victims and arrest the abductors.

The Gazette report that about four kidnap cases had occurred in the state within one this year.

The fresh kidnapping incident is coming amid concerns among motorists plying the Owo/Benin road, calling for concerted efforts on major routes in the axis.

Last week, a group of residents raised the alarm over activities of louts in the Upenmen community; one of the major towns in Owo LGA of the state.

They also wrote to the state governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, seeking urgent government and security assistance to tackle the incessant cases of attack and kidnapping by herdsmen.

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