Some unspecified number of kidnappers suspected to be Fulani herdsmen have reportedly kidnapped a middle-aged man in Ondo State.
Named Ademola Muhammed, the 55-year-old man was kidnapped around 9pm on Friday, 27th January 2023 while he was returning from the mosque around Lipakala area of the Ondo, Ondo State.
A source, simply identified as Salami, disclosed the wife of the victim Mrs Mulikat Ademola, received a phone call from an unknown number the following day and was told that the man had been kidnapped.
Salami also revealed that the incident may be connected with an incident that happened in 2021 between the abducted man’s son-in-law, Ismaila Iretiola, and some Fulani herdsmen in the area.
According to him, the man’s son-in-law, happened to have caught some herdsmen with two kidnap victims in the ranch.
“Ismaila always did business of cow skin with those Fulani people, but it was unfortunate that he and his friend found them in a compromising position that day in 2021.
“Although they escaped from the scene, but those Fulani Kidnappers were able to identify them.
“The kidnappers are not even asking for money from the family. They want the family to produce Ismaila or they would kill his father-in-law.”
Salami revealed that Ismaila reported the case to the police when he saw the men in the ranch, but they had fled the scene by the time the security operatives would get there.
He also said some months after the case was reported, one of Ismaila’s friends by the name “Sunday,” who was with him on the day of the incident was killed.
“The guy was definitely killed in connection to the incident. Ismaila had to run away from Ondo town.
“His in-laws had been living in fear since then, and they can’t just leave the town where they have spent all their lives.
“With the way his father-in-law suddenly went missing and the strange calls asking for Ismaila, the family is convinced that the Fulani kidnappers are behind it.”
Meanwhile, the source also said the family had not reported the kidnap incident to the police as the kidnappers warned against it.