Six heavily armed gunmen, on Sunday night stormed the Ilu-Abo community in the Akure North Local Government Area of Ondo State, where they abducted a woman and shot two persons as well as an 11-year-old child.
The victim, identified as Tomilola Oladehinde, was abducted around 8:00pm by the gunmen at the entrance of her home at Liberty Avenue in the community.
It was gathered that the gunmen had trailed a businessman, John Ofuduwa, to the community before abducting the woman as their escape plan.
Ofuduwa, who sells iron rods at Oba-Ile community, a neighbouring community to Ilu-Abo, was shot in the head by the gunmen after he was ambushed while trying to enter his compound.
During the violent attack, two other persons, a female identified as Victoria and her 11-year-old daughter, who were passing through the area, were hit by bullets fired by the gunmen.
According to sources in the community, the gunmen were not kidnappers but those purportedly hired to assassinate the businessman, but the other victims, particularly the woman who was kidnapped, were victims of circumstances.
One of the sources, who craved anonymity, stated that “John was the one that the gunmen traced to Ilu-Abo. He was about to enter his gate when we suddenly heard multiple gunshots. At that point, we had to run for our dear lives.
“It was when they left that we realised that John was shot in the head with blood gushing out. A woman that was also trying to drive inside her compound was kidnapped. Another woman and her daughter were also shot.
“We believed that the woman was kidnapped in order to aid their escape from the community. But they have yet to contact anyone as regards her whereabouts since Sunday night. John was rushed to FMC in Owo, but he was referred to Ado-Ekiti. We are praying that he will make it.”
Reacting to the developments, the Commissioner of Police in the state, Adebowale Lawal, who visited the scene, assured the general public that intensive efforts are ongoing, in close collaboration with the Nigerian Army, the Department of State Services (DSS), and other security agencies, as well as relevant non-state actors, to ensure the safe rescue of the abducted victim as well as the arrest and prosecution of all those responsible for the attack.
