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General News of Tuesday, 20 April 2021

Source: www.vanguardngr.com

Hunters foil suspected herdsmen's kidnap attempt in Osun

Herdsman Herdsman

There was tension in some parts of the South-West, yesterday, as some local hunters in Osun State foiled attempts by some suspected herdsmen to kidnap three residents of Koka village in Obokun Local Government Area of the state.

Three persons were, however, shot during the foiled kidnap attempt.

Similarly, gunmen suspected to be Fulani invaded the Oke-Ogun area of Oyo State and abducted two Fulani, Messrs Amadu Imoru and Kusore Shadani.

The abductors, however, demanded N13 million for the victims.

This came on a day when kidnappers of the Obadu of Ilemeso Ekiti, Oba David Oyewumi, contacted the family of the monarch and made a ransom demand of N20 million.

Hunters foil kidnap attempt in Osun

It was gathered that herdsmen invaded the Osun community, which is five minutes drive to the state capital, around 12am, wielding different types of weapons.

Findings revealed that the bandits started shooting sporadically which alerted residents, thereby forcing residents to mobilise hunters within the community.

A resident of the town, Kamaru Adebisi said they were woken up by the sound of gunshots but community leaders later mobilised local hunters to the scene.

Adebisi said: “They invaded the community and focused on a building. They could not access the house easily, so they started shooting at the gates. They shot their way into the building.

“While they were shooting, a neighbour went out to check what was happening, and on sighting him, the man was shot.

“They attempted to kidnap the man and two other residents, but the local hunters made it difficult for them to move out of the community, hence, they dumped their victims and ran into the forest.”

Police confirm attack in Osun

Confirming the incident, Osun police spokesperson, Yemisi Opalola said the suspected herdsmen invaded the village around 11:45 pm, attempting to kidnap some residents but the local hunters prevented them from escaping with their victims.

Opalola said: “Some hoodlums, suspected to be herdsmen, invaded Koka community to kidnap some villagers, consequently, some villagers and local hunters engaged them in a gun duel and rescued the victims. However, the rescued victims sustained different degrees of gunshot injuries.”

Opalola stated that the policemen have been deployed to the village to assist villagers while effort is ongoing to arrest the perpetrators.

She said the rescued victims have been taken to hospital in Osogbo for treatment.