Kidnappers along the Ipetumodu -Ilesa Expressway in Osun State attacked travelers on Saturday abducting nine people including toddlers.
However, the victims were rescued after their kidnap by a joint patrol team of Amotekun corps in Osun and Ondo State.
Chairman of the Council of Amotekun Commanders in the South-West region and Ondo State Commander of the corps, Akogun Adeleye, said after the rescue, efforts are on to arrest the kidnappers.
He said Amotekun responded to a distress call on Saturday and immediately moved into the forest to rescue the victims, who were travellers.
Adeleye said, “Around 1am, we got a distress call from one of the families of the kidnap victims that the kidnappers called, asking for ransom. We thereafter moved into action. We were able to track the kidnappers.
“The victims were rescued and some of their valuables were retrieved but the kidnappers ran away. It was along Ipetumodu axis in Osun State and when we got to a village about 10 kilometres away from the road, we found out that the den was a regular dump area for kidnappers because we found so many items which shows that it is a permanent place where they keep kidnap victims.
“However, we were able to rescue nine victims and a vehicle. Our men are there in the bush trailing the kidnappers but our major concern was to rescue the victims. Our medical team has been attending to them and after completion, we would take them to their various destinations so they can reunite with their families”
One of the victims, Ife Balogun, who was travelling to Ado-Ekiti to celebrate Christmas with her grandma said the kidnappers kept them in the forest for several hours before the intervention of Amotekun corps.
