Gunmen have abducted two farmers in Parubber Community, Ile-Oluji/Okeigbo Local Government Area of Ondo State.
Sources said the victims were ambushed on their farms on Monday and taken into the bush by the assailants.
Pastor Yemi Omowale, one of the farmers who escaped the attack, said the incident had been reported to the police and Amotekun Corps.
Narrating the incident, Omowale, who operates a piggery farm in Parubber Community on the Ondo-Ife Road, said: “I run a piggery farm in Parubber Community along Ondo-Ife Road in Ile-Oluji/Okeigbo Local Government Area.
“We went there in the morning to feed the animals. Between 12 noon and 1.oo p.m on Monday, we were working outside when I saw a masked man carrying an AK-47 moving towards one of the victims, Adetan Adebanjo Gbemi, because we were not standing together,” he said.
He said the abductors have contacted the wife of one of the victims, demanding N100 million as ransom.
“They have been calling the victim’s wife to ask how much she has been able to raise.
“We are appealing to the security agencies and the government to help rescue our brother and sister unharmed,” Omowale said.
Confirming the incident, the spokesperson for the Police Command in Ondo State, DSP Abayomi Jimoh, said a joint security team comprising police operatives, including the Anti-Kidnapping Squad, Amotekun personnel, local hunters and vigilantes, had been deployed to the area.
He added that efforts were being intensified to rescue the victims unharmed and apprehend those behind the abduction.
Jimoh urged residents to remain calm and provide credible information that could assist the ongoing operation through the nearest police formation.
However, some residents on Saturday, expressed fears over spate kidnappings in the state.
A cross section of people said that the increasing rate of insecurity in the state was becoming worrisome.
A resident, Frank Obanikoko, noted that Ondo State was no longer safe as everybody now lived in fear.
“At home, one is unsafe. Going to the farm, no one is safe. Even, travelling within the state is now a nightmare,” he said.
He called on security agencies to step up effort on surveillance and intelligence gathering in order to checkmate the rising insecurity in the state.
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