From Laide Raheem, Abeokuta
Gunmen suspected to be kidnappers on Tuesday night abducted four travellers in Olubo Village, along Abeokuta-Imala-Ayetoro Road in Abeokuta North Local Governmen Area of Ogun State.
The abducted travellers included three traders and a driver who were returning from Ilara market in Imeko-Afon.
Olubo Village is the same location where a medical doctor and a nurse traveling from Imeko town were kidnapped about a month ago.
They were later released after an undisclosed sum of amount of money was paid as ransom by the Nigerian Medical Association.
When our correspondent visited the scene of the incident Wednesday afternoon, residents of Olubo, Obada-Idi Emi, Imeko-Afon and Ilara barricaded the road in protest of the abduction.
The demonstration disrupted traffic, with many travellers stranded on the road.
Our correspondent gathered that five other passengers travelling in the same Toyota Avensis (Verso) SUV with plate number FFF 654 TK were however spared by the kidnappers.
Narrating their ordeal to Daily Sun, Mrs Akewugberu and Mrs Rofiat Oladeinde said the commercial vehicle was abruptly stopped by four gunmen who shot into the air repeatedly.
They explained that the gunmen armed with AK-47 rifles and machetes abducted the driver and three women who were selected randomly among the passengers.
They added that the abductors spared a Fulani and two Hausa passengers among them.
They explained further that the hoodlums collected their money and mobile phones.
The Assistant Commissioner of Police in charge of Operations, Ogun Police Command, Bolanle Muritala, who arrived at the spot site of abduction in a police helicopter marked, appealed to the residents to remove the barricade on the road, promising that police were already on the trail of the abductors.
‘We are going after the abductors, that is why we are here. We shall definitely get them,’ he assured the crowd.
A relative of one of the victims, Eunice Oladele, said she was had dropped her sister at a motor park on her way to Ilara on Tuesday morning, adding she was shocked to learn they she had been kidnapped on her way back to Abeokuta.
An emotional Eunice said the kidnappers were yet to establish any contact with family members.
Also speaking with our correspondent, Mutiu Oderinde, the husband to one of the victims, his wife, Jelilat, said she traveled to Ilara market for trading to help her mother who, according to him, was unable to go due to illness.
Mutiu, who was crying profusely, appealed to the state government and security agencies to secure the release of his wife and other abductees unhurt.
The Chairman, Park Management, Ayetoro Motor Park, Abeokuta, Babatunde Adelakun, said the kidnapped driver was his employee.
Adelakun said there are 48 police checkpoints, including 10 highway patrol teams, from Abeokuta to Ilara, berating the police for not doing more to protect travelers on the road.