Kidnappers flee into bush as police foil abduction attempts in Ondo

By Boye Oyeyemi

Suspected kidnappers on Sunday fled into the bush after operatives of the Ondo State Police Command foiled two separate abduction attempts in Owo Local Government Area of the state.

According to a statement by the spokesperson for the command, DSP Abayomi Jimoh, the swift intervention of security operatives led to the rescue of all victims, including a woman and her two children who were forcefully taken into the forest by the attackers.

According to the statement, the first incident occurred around 7:05 p.m. when a six-man armed gang invaded the residence of Pastor Taiwo Taiwo, chairman of Ojana New Area, Owo, in an attempt to abduct him.

Police operatives from the B Division in Owo were immediately deployed to the scene, where they engaged the suspects in a gun duel. The attackers reportedly fled into the surrounding bush after meeting stiff resistance, while the pastor and his family were rescued unharmed and moved to a safer location.

In a related incident later that night, gunmen attacked a resident, Daniel Ologun, in Gbegun Community along Alhaja Camp, off Housing Estate, Owo. Ologun sustained a gunshot wound to his left leg, while his wife, Taibat, and their two children, aged four and two, were dragged into the bush by the assailants.

“The rapid deployment of police operatives and sustained pressure mounted on the fleeing kidnappers disrupted their movement and forced them to abandon their captives,” the statement read, adding that the woman and her two children were later rescued unhurt during a joint operation involving the police and the Nigerian Army.

It added that the fleeing suspects escaped into the forest with gunshot injuries, while the injured victim was taken to the Federal Medical Centre, Owo, where he is receiving treatment and responding positively.

In response, the state Commissioner of Police, Felix Ohagwu, ordered intensified bush-combing operations across the affected communities and adjoining forests to track down the fleeing suspects, assuring residents that the command remains committed to ridding the state of kidnappers and other criminal elements.