Gunmen suspected to be kidnappers have allegedly abducted about five travellers along Ayebode-Ekiti, Ikole local government area of Ekiti State.
It was gathered that the victims were ambushed by the gunmen along the road on Monday afternoon when they were traveling in a car to a neighboring community in the area.
A source said among the victims was a primary school teacher identified as Alice.
According to the source who does not want his name mentioned, said the abductors had contacted the family of the teacher and demanded about N50 million as ransom.
“The gunmen ambushed them and abduct all the five occupants in the vehicle including the driver. It was the vehicle we saw and we heard a teacher was among the victims,” the source said.
He added that the teachers in the local government under the auspices of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) and other family members have commenced the process of paying the ransom.
But the chairman of NUT in the state, Mr Oke Emmanuel who confirmed the abduction of the teacher, however, denied that the union mandated members to contribute money for ransom.
He said, “I got the information through the chairperson, Ikole branch, Mrs. L.O. Longe, of the ugly incident that the kidnappers were demanding N50 million ransom.
“Government is on top of the matter and is restless to save the situation. Security agencies have been contacted on the matter.”
But when contacted, the Police Public Relation Officer (PPRO) of the command, ASP Sunday Abutu denied the kidnapping incident, saying there was no report of such any of the police stations in the state.
He called on members of the public who has more information on the incident to approach the police, adding that the command would not take issues of kidnapping with levity in the state.
The PPRO said, “To the best of my knowledge, we are not aware of such incidents. I have made a series of calls to our people in Ikole and other areas, and they said nobody has reported such an incident.
“I will advise the public especially those on the social media to exercise constraints in spreading unconfirmed news in order not to cause panic among the people especially during this yuletide.”