AT least 17 persons have been kidnapped by gunmen in Ondo and Kwara states.
The assailants abducted 13 travelers along Abuja Road in Isua, Akoko South-East Local Government Area of Ondo State.
This newspaper gathered on Thursday that the victims were in transit from Lagos to Abuja in an 18-passenger bus when the gunmen attacked their vehicle.
A source who confirmed the incident to journalists in Akure, the state capital, said the attackers whisked the travelers into the bush.
The source, who preferred not to be named for security reasons, said the incident has been reported to the security agents.
“The gunmen waylaid their bus and marched them (victims) into the forest leaving only three of the passengers behind,” he said.
It was gathered that operatives of the Nigeria Police Force, Amotekun Corps, Army and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) immediately swung into action and rescued some of the victims.
A security personnel, who did not want his name mentioned, told Daily Trust that the victims were rescued at the Ikakumo area in Akoko North-East Local Government Area.
Ikakumo is a short distance away from Isua, where the incident took place.
Confirming the incident, Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), in the state, Funmilayo Odunlami-Omisanya, said one of the kidnappers was shot dead when the security men engaged them in a gun battle.
In Kwara, gunmen abducted four persons, including a vigilante in Asa Local Government of the state.
Daily Trust gathered that the incident happened when some guests were heading home from a naming ceremony on Tuesday evening in Aboto.
Hon Aliyu Wahab Opekunle, who represented the district in the 9th Kwara assembly said “Four captives are still with the kidnappers and we have not heard from them yet.”
The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of the state police command, Okasanmi Ajayi, who also confirmed the incident, said that the command was on top of the situation to rescue the kidnapped victims.