Suspected fulani herdsmen abduct children, civil servants, lecturers in Ondo

Eight travellers including two civil servants in the workforce of the Ondo State Government, have reportedly been kidnapped by suspected Fulani herdsmen.

The victims were abducted while travelling from Owo to Akure after a ceremony over the weekend. 

The civil servants, Ayewunmi Ogunsemore of the Forestry Department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Bunmi Falodun, a civil servant with the FADAMA programme, were abducted around the bad portion of the Owo-Ose-Akoko road. Also children whose parents were driving through the Ogbese and Ilu-Abo road on the Akure-Owo road, were kidnapped.

Sahara Reporters reports that a Senior Lecturer at the Mass Communication Department of the Rufus Giwa Polytechic Owo (RUGIPO), Rahman Abubakri, who escaped being kidnapped by the gunmen, confirmed the incident. Abubakri disclosed that another lecturer from Marketing Department of the polytechnic fell victim of the hoodlums who dragged him and the others into the thick forest.

“Around 5:20pm on Saturday evening, I narrowly escaped being kidnapped around Ilu-Abo on my way to Akure after a wedding ceremony which I attended at Omuo Ekiti. Nigerians are under siege. I saw the Fulani shooting sporadically from a distance. The bushes and thick forests we don’t care to go into have been well-studied by these Fulanis. Unfortunately, some kids were taken away by the kidnappers," he said.

“[At] almost the same time, a lecturer of the Department of Marketing, Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo was kidnapped by the same Fulani herdsmen between Ipele and Owo Road. Another kidnapping took place at Oba Akoko. Three persons fell victim as they were taken away into the bush. My colleagues missed being kidnapped on Friday evening." Abubakri said

Confirming the incident, the spokesman of the Ondo State Police Command, Femi Joseph, 

"Yes, it is true but we are on top of the situation as the Commissioner of Police has dispatched our men to the bushes around the incident of the zones in order to rescue those who have been kidnapped," he said. "So, I can assure you that justice would surely be done to those who are behind these evil acts and those who might have been responsible, we shall bring them to justice."

Recall that on December 5th, three workers of the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Owo in Ondo State, were kidnapped by gunmen.

They were later released by their abductors.