On Friday night, gunmen suspected to be kidnappers attacked passengers traveling along the Ifon/Owo road, resulting in the deaths of the driver and a female passenger, and the abduction of five others.
The incident, which occurred around 11 p.m., involved about 15 gunmen who opened fire to stop a Toyota Sienna bus. The driver, attempting to evade the attack, was fatally shot, as was a female passenger from Anambra state who was sitting beside him. Two passengers managed to escape.
Five passengers, including a corps member, were taken into the forest by the gunmen. The sound of sporadic gunfire attracted local residents, who rushed to the scene only to find the victims’ bodies, as the kidnappers had already fled.
The corpses were transported to a private morgue, and the community reported the incident to the police. Ondo State Police Public Relations Officer, Fumilayo Odunlami, confirmed the attack, noting that the exact number of abducted victims or those who escaped remains uncertain. She assured that police officers have been deployed to search the forest and rescue the kidnapped victims.
