Abducted pastor, wife, 6 others regain freedom in Ekiti

By Mike Adebayo, Ado-Ekiti

Gunmen on Tuesday night set free eight kidnap victims after their relatives paid ransom.

The victims were released at a forest at Ikun-Ekiti community in the Moba Council area of Ekiti State.

They comprised the wife and daughter of a man who was shot dead in his car by kidnappers along Ayetoro-Ewu Ekiti Road on Friday.

The six others are a pastor, his wife and four other women who were abducted on Saturday morning at Otun Ekiti in the Moba Council area on their way to Offa and Ilorin areas of Kwara State.

A source, who alleged that four abductees whose relatives had not paid their ransom were still in the kidnappers’ den, disclosed that the pastor and his wife had rejoined their family members, while the remaining six were receiving medical treatment at an undisclosed hospital in Ekiti State.

Source said, “They were freed on Tuesday night in the forest at Ikun-Ekiti. The release was after we had paid ransom. I will not disclose the amount paid to the gunmen for security reasons, but we paid.”

“Another source, who claimed he was part of the team that took ransom to the forest, said, “The kidnappers were young men dressed in black pullovers and black fez caps. They were armed with AK-47. One of them even threatened to waste me.”

The Police Public Relations Officer, Ekiti Command, ASP Sunday Abutu who spoke with Nigerian NewsDirect in Ado-Ekiti, confirmed the freedom, saying, “Yes, they have been released. All those kidnapped around that time have been released.

Abutu, who said he was not aware of any ransom paid, said, “It was the combined efforts of the Police and Amotekun Corps who combed the bush and put the people under pressure which culminated in their release,” Nigerian NewsDirect reports.