A petrol dealer, identified as Alhaji Abbas and his manager, Abubakar Issa, were reportedly kidnapped on Friday by unidentified gunmen at Gbugbu in Edu Local Government Area of Kwara state, DAILY POST reports.
The victims were abducted after close of work at the Daniyan Shaba Global Investment Filling station in Gbugbu town.
They were reportedly abducted after the assailants made away with an undisclosed sum of money.
Following the abduction, the gunmen have demanded a ransom of N200m for their release.
The bandits, who reportedly arrived on motorcycles, carried out a violent operation that resulted in the burning of Alhaji Abbas’s vehicle.
The incident marks a disturbing recurrence of attacks targeting Alhaji Abbas, who had previously survived an earlier encounter with bandits.
The latest abduction has sent shock waves through the community, raising concerns about the escalating insecurity in the area.
“This is not the first time Alhaji Abbas has been attacked,” a source familiar with the situation disclosed, adding that “the fact that they targeted him again, and this time successfully abducted him along with his manager, is deeply worrying.”
Residents who witnessed the aftermath of the attack stated that the bandits retreated into a nearby forest, believed to be their hideout.
The community is now urgently appealing to security agencies and the state government to intervene and address the growing insecurity in Edu Local Government Area of the state.
An eyewitness, who preferred to remain anonymous, expressed fears about the potential impact on farming activities.
“We are entering the rainy season, and our farmers need to go to their farmlands,” the eyewitness stated lamenting that “If this insecurity continues to loom over us, it will force them to abandon their farms, which will have severe consequences for our community.”
As of Sunday morning, the whereabouts of Alhaji Abbas and Abubakar Issa remained unknown, leaving their families in anguish and the community in fear.
Authorities are yet to issue an official statement on the incident, as efforts to reach the spokesperson of the state police command, SP Adetoun Ejire-Adeyemi, in Ilorin on Sunday proved abortive.
The incident underscores the urgent need for increased security measures and a decisive response from the government to curb the activities of bandits in the region and ensure the safety and security of the residents of Edu Local Government Area.
