Gunmen Kidnap Petrol Station Manager, Wife, Demand N20m Ransom

Mr D. Alalade, a petrol station manager of Bovas Petroleum and Gas in Ekiti State, and his wife have been kidnapped by unknown gunmen.

An eye witness who narrowly escaped the incident told newsmen in Ado Ekiti that the couple were seized at Efon Alaaye, headquarters of Efon Local Government Area of the state late on Friday.

According to NAN, a source have revealed that the couple’s family have been reached about the abduction and a sum of N20 million ransom was being demanded by the abductors.

The victims vehicle was waylaid between Efon Alaaye and Erio Ekiti by six kidnappers who were armed with sophisticated weapons, dressed in military camouflage.

“As they waylaid their car, the occupants of the vehicle coming behind them quickly ran into the bush to take cover.

“They even shot into the air to scare us and ensure that we waited, but we ran for our lives. We even thought they were robbers until we learnt that they have called the abductors’ family,” he said.

Security agencies have tagged the thick forest between Efon Alaaye, a border town with Osun State to Iwaraja, an Ijesa town a black spot.

State Financial Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, Mr Kayode Oni and other prominent members of the state have once been kidnapped in this area of the state.

The bush have been cumbed on several occasion by the men of the Nigerian army to apprehend criminals taking cover in the forest.

ASP Caleb Ikechukwu, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Ekiti Command, said he has yet to be briefed about the incident and promised to give details later.