No fewer than three persons were in the early hours of Wednesday kidnapped by gunmen during a midnight raid in Ilasa-Ekiti, Ekiti East local government area of Ekiti State.
A source told Tribune Online that the kidnappers received about N1.5 million, seven packs of cigarettes, ten tin milk, one bottle of hot schnapps and three packs of bullet drink as ransom before a man identified simply as Olu, one of the victims said to be a timber merchant regained his freedom on Wednesday morning.
This is coming barely two weeks after a couple preparing for their wedding were abducted by gunmen in the area and spent five days in captivity before a reported payment of N3 million ransom.
Our correspondent gathered that the gunmen invaded the community at about 1.30 am in Eti- Ero farmstead in Ilasa Ekiti and ransacked the entire households where three farmers were seized and taken to an unknown destination.
One of the sources said, “The gunmen came around 1.30 am and started shooting sporadically. The gunshots generated a lot of panic and some brave people among them had to rush out of their buildings and fled into the bush.
“As they were shooting, they were searching all the buildings and in the course of doing the searching, they got home of a child confirmed to be less than 10 years and three others who were farmers.
When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer, Ekiti Command, ASP Sunday Abutu, confirmed the incident but said only two persons were reported at the station.
“Even the police have rescued one of the captives from the abductors and one person had been arrested in connection with the midnight raid,” he said.
In a related development, a timber merchant in Ara-Ekiti, Ikole local government area of the state who was kidnapped three days ago has regained his freedom from the gunmen.
