Victor Ogunje in Ado Ekiti
No fewer than 10 gunmen at the weekend invaded Isinbode, an agrarian community in Ekiti East Local Government Area, Ekiti State and abducted three persons.
The assailants, THISDAY learnt, attacked a sawmill located along Isinbode-Ode road and dispossessed the workers of their personal belongings and abducted two at the scene.
An eyewitness told THISDAY that after the attack, the kidnappers ambushed a Hilux Van conveying a top government official and kidnapped one of the occupants.
He explained that some hoodlums stormed “a sawmill in the area where they dispossessed traders and workers of their money and valuables while two persons, a man and a woman were abducted.
“While the criminals were fleeing the community, a Hilux van conveying a senior officer of a government agency was attacked in which the driver was shot.
“The driver of the Hilux was hit by bullets forcing him to pull up on the highway. This led to the kidnap of a top government’s functionary,” the eyewitness said.
When contacted, the Public Relations Officer, Ekiti State Police Command, Mr. Sunday Abutu, confirmed the incident, disclosing that one of the victims of the kidnappers had escaped from captivity.
Abutu said the kidnappers “are now left with two persons including the senior civil servant,” noting that the police detectives had started a manhunt.
The police spokesperson added that the police were on the trail of the criminals, promising that the captives would be freed unhurt.
Abutu disclosed that the driver, who sustained gunshot injury, had been taken to an undisclosed hospital where he is currently receiving treatment.
