Three workers from Megabolex Quarry at Idi Ayunre, on Ibadan-Ijebu Ode Road in Oyo State, and a commuter, who were kidnapped by gunmen on Tuesday, April 6, 2021, regained their freedom on Friday, April 9, after three days of being held hostage.
The names of the rescued victims were given as Ubong Jacob, Amisu Isaac, Wasiu and Adeoti Tosin.
They were said to have been rescued at about 6:20 p.m., by the police, who had been on the kidnappers’ trail since the day of the incident.
Thenewsbearer gathered that the operatives, including the Divisional Police Officer at Idi Ayunre and the officer in charge of Anti-Kidnapping Squad (AKS), as well as local hunters and vigilante members, had been combing the bush for days to trail the kidnappers and get the victims released.
When the news of the kidnap first got round, it was said that only three quarry workers were abducted.
However, Thenewsbearer learnt that the fourth victim, Tosin, was taken along with other victims when the kidnappers saw her in an approaching car with the driver.
She was said to have chartered the Uber car from Lagos, on her way to Ibadan through Ijebu Ode in Ogun State, when she came across the kidnappers and other victims along the road.
The driver however escaped, abandoning the vehicle he was in.
A source told Thenewsbearer that the kidnappers got N1.5 million as ransom on the release of the victims, though it had yet to be ascertained.
Confirming the rescue of the kidnap victims when contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Adewale Osifeso told Thenewsbearer that the victims were released by their abductors at about 6:20pm on Friday, due to pressure mounted on them by the police.
The PPRO said: “as a result of ceaseless and continuous combing of neighbouring bushes and abandoned structures by 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 stated further that the victims were taken to Police Hospital at Eleyele, Ibadan, for proper medical examination, while they were also reunited with their families.
He added that investigations were in top gear to track the abductors, promising to pass across subsequent developments.
