Three workers from Megabolex Quarryoyo, Idi Ayunre, on Ibadan-Ijebu Ode Road, in Oyo State, and a commuter, who were kidnapped by gunmen on Tuesday, April 6, 2021, have regained their freedom.
Ubong Jacob, Amisu Isaac, Wasiu and Tosin Adeoti were said to have been rescued at about 6:20 p.m. on Friday, April 9, 2021 by the police, who had been on the kidnappers’ trail since the day of the incident.
It was gathered that the operatives, including the Divisional Police Officer at Idi Ayunre and the officer in charge of Anti-Kidnapping Squad (AKS), in conjunction with local hunters and vigilantes had been combing the bush for days to trail the kidnappers.
Initially when the news of the kidnap broke, only three quarry workers were said to have been abducted, but The Eagle Online learnt that a fourth victim, Tosin, was abducted along with other three victims as the kidnappers saw her in an approaching car.
She was said to have chartered an Uber car from Lagos, on her way to Ibadan through Ijebu Ode. She was abducted, while the driver escaped, abandoning the vehicle.
A source claimed that the kidnappers got N1.5 million as ransom to release the victims, but this has yet to be confirmed.
When contacted, the state’s Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Adewale Osifeso, said that the victims were released by their abductors at about 6:20pm on Friday, due to pressure mounted on them by the police.
He said: “As a result of ceaseless and continuous combing of neighbouring bushes and abandoned structures by a combined team of personnel from Anti-Kidnaping Squad (AKS), other tactical squads and local vigilantes, and exerting pressure on the abductors by closing in on their trail, we have successfully rescued alive all the victims of April 6 abduction.”
Osifeso said the victims had been taken to Police Hospital at Eleyele, Ibadan, for proper medical examination, while they were also reunited with their families, and that investigations were on to track the abductors.