Suspected armed bandits have attacked a passenger vehicle on the Ifon/Owo road in Ose Local Government Area of Ondo State, killing two persons and kidnapping some travellers.

Some members of the National Youth Services Corps (NYSC) heading back home were among the travellers kidnapped en route to the state from Anambra on a Toyota Sienna space bus, sources said.

Peoples Gazette learnt that the travellers were transiting through the notorious “Omi Alafa village” on Ifon road on Friday when the bandits attacked the vehicle and whisked them away.

A community source, Seun Ogunmola, said the passengers were heading towards Owo in Ondo State when the armed bandits waylaid them. He said one of the kidnap victims, a corps member identified as Adewole Paul Oluwaseun, was returning from the camp.

“He was returning from NYSC camp in Enugu when he was kidnapped with others by the bandits,” he said in his brief update on Saturday.

Another source, Edward Lawal, who confirmed his brother was among the abducted corps members, said the bandits are demanding N3 million ransom.

“It happened in Ifon, and about five corps members were whisked away. My brother happens to be one of them,” he said in a Whatsapp message to The Gazette on Saturday evening.

Mr Lawal said the vehicle driver and a young lady sitting in the front were hit by the bullets while trying to manoeuvre their way and escaped.

Funmilayo Odunlami-Omisanya, the Ondo police spokeswoman, confirmed the kidnapped case in a short message, noting that the bodies of dead victims had been deposited at the morgue in Ifon.

Mrs Odunlami-Omisanya said the security agencies had swung into action to rescue victims. However, she could not immediately ascertain the number of the kidnapped victims.

The Ifon/Owo road has been a nightmare for motorists, especially travellers from the Eastern part of the country into Ondo.

No fewer than 10 different cases of kidnapping and attack have been reported on the road between January and July this year, sparking concerns among motorists.

Last month, the Ondo State Security and Network Agency (Amotekun) Corps claimed it arrested some suspected bandits who had been terrorising passengers on the road, parading the suspects with ammunition, including AK-47 rifles, cutlasses and matchets.