Men of the Ondo State Security Network Agency codenamed Amotekun, have rescued six prospective National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members who were abducted by gunmen suspected to be kidnappers.
The Corps members who were on their way to Kaduna state for their Service were rescued from the kidnappers den in Iyara village in Kogi state last Thursday after spending three days with their abductors, while two of the kidnappers were nabbed on Saturday.
The six victims which include, three female and three male were rescued by the Amotekun in a operation that involved other security agencies in Kogi state.
It was gathered that one of the victims, identified as Blessing, who contacted her relatives in Ondo town, to notify them about her abduction, while men of the state security outfit were also informed.
The kidnappers had demanded for N10m as ransom for the release of the victims but after negotiations agreed to N2m for the release of the victims.
However, Amotekun officials from Ondo town division, set out a rescue team in search of the kidnapped victims but discovered that they were in a town in Kogi State.
The Amotekun officials, in collaboration with security agencies in Kogi State, ensured that the six victims regained their freedom by invading the kidnappers den while two of the perpetrators were also apprehended.
Speaking on the development, the state Commander of Amotekun, Chief Adetunji Adeleye explained that “We received a distress call from a family member of aone of the victims who is an indigene of Ondo State, from Ondo town that one of their family members, who was on her way to orientation camp in Kaduna State had been kidnapped.
“We succeded in getting the location of the victims and the contact number of the kidnappers who had contacted the families of the victims for ransom and tracked the account the payment was made into.
“We got their location which showed that they were some where around Ijara in Kogi State, not too far from Kabba and deployed our men who worked with other security agencies to the location.
“We were able to discover three locations and we realised that the victims are right in the middle of the kidnappers and we ensured that they were rescued unhurt.
“We were there for almost two days, mounting pressure on them. We did lots of tracking to get to their location.
“They wanted N10 million, but we were able to reduce it to N2m and we stylishly agreed and asked them to send an account number where the money would be sent to.
“We sent N1m into the account and tracked the owner of the account. We realised it was a First Bank account in Kogi State. We went after the Kidnappers and with the support of the DPO of the affected area, we succeeded.”
Adetunji said two of the suspects were arrested, including the owner of the bank account but said the two suspects had been handed over to the Kogi State Police Command, while the six victims regained their freedom.
