Suspected gunmen have abducted an unspecified number of passengers travelling on a failed portion of the road between Ondo and Ekiti states, Peoples Gazette just learnt.

It was gathered that the gunmen laid siege on the road linking Iju in Ondo and Ikere in Ekiti and intercepted the vehicles conveying the victims.

Sources who confirmed the kidnap revealed that different vehicles occupied by the passengers were abandoned on the road as the armed men marched their victims into the forest.

A source, who preferred to be anonymous, told The Gazette that he saw a Toyota Corolla and Toyota Corolla vehicles whose occupants must have been seized by the gunmen.

“When we saw the vehicles and the way it was parked beside the road. We knew the occupants (passengers) must have fallen victim to the kidnappers.

“Women and ladies must have been among those kidnapped by the armed men because we saw their bags left behind in the vehicles,” he said.

A video footage of the scene obtained by The Gazette showed how vehicles were riddled with bullets.

The police spokesperson in Ondo State, Funmilayo Odunlami-Omisanya, confirmed the incident to this outlet in a phone chat on Saturday.

Mrs Odunlami-Omisanya, however, said the kidnapping occurred on Thursday and involved victims who were travelling on the roads.

“But our men in the anti-kidnapping squad of the Ondo Police Command have already swung into action and are now combing the forest,” she added.

However, she said there are no official reports from the families of the victims yet nor reports of missing people in the state.

Last year, scores of passengers were also kidnapped in Ifon in the Ose LGA of the state while returning from a funeral service from Edo state.

The incident came a few days after a similar incident occurred on the same route as the gunmen launched an attack on choir members of Christ Apostolic Church, Oke Igan, in Akure.