Twenty-five members of Christ Apostolic Church in Oke Igan, Akure, were on Friday afternoon kidnapped when their vehicle was ambushed by gunmen on the Akure-Benin expressway.
The incident occurred at Elegbeka while the group was on its way to Ifon in the Ose Local Government Area of Ondo State.
The victims, mostly members of the church’s choir, were going for the funeral ceremony of the father of their organist when their bus ran into the ambush at about 3 p.m.
The expressway has become notorious for kidnap attacks as its many failed portions make it easy for kidnappers to ambush the road’s users.
“Those who were kidnapped yesterday evening are my church members from CAC Oke-gan, Akure,” a member of the church told journalists in Akure on Saturday
They were on their way to Ifon to attend the burial ceremony of the father of the principal organist.”
The church member said the gunmen walked the victims into the forest after forcing them down from their bus.
The police spokesperson in Ondo, Funmilayo Odunlami-Omisanya, confirmed the incident.
“Some of them have been rescued,” she said, adding that efforts were underway to rescue the others.
In 2020, suspected kidnappers shot dead the traditional ruler of Ifon, the same destination as the current victims, the Olufon of Ifon, Israel Adeusi, also at Elegbeka.
The traditional ruler, who was returning to Ifon from Akure after a meeting, ran into kidnappers who had barricaded the expressway.
It was gathered that his driver attempted to avoid the kidnappers but they shot at his vehicle.
The incident was blamed on the poor state of the road, leading to repair works on the failed portions.
However, many portions of the road have again failed, with kidnappers and robbers exploiting the situation to add to the woes of road users.
