BY AKINWALE ABOLUWADE, IBADAN
Vehicular movements were stalled for some hours along the Ibadan-Ijebu Ode Road on Wednesday as some armed bandits reportedly intercepted vehicles and abducted four travellers.
Some travellers were said to have sustained bullet wounds during the attack.
The POINT gathered that the abductors, numbering about eight, barricaded a section of the road firing sporadically into the air to force vehicles to stop.
The four hostages whose identities had yet to be confirmed were said to be occupants of one of the cars that were forced to stop. An elderly man was reportedly spared as he was found to have eye problem.
It was learnt that police operatives at Idi Ayunre, led by the Divisional Police Officer at the station, in collaboration with local hunters and vigilante group, have since been combing the forest to track down the suspected kidnappers.
The elderly man who was abandoned at the scene and the vehicle were said to have been taken to Idi Ayunre Police Station while a traveller who sustained bullet injury on his arm was taken to hospital for treatment.
In a video that went viral, the man could be heard wreathing in pain.
Narrating his encounter, the man (name not given), said he was on his way to Ajah, Lagos State, and decided to pass through Ijebu Ode enroute Epe.
He said, “I had left CRIN at Idi Ayunre and just passed Onipe when the abductors suddenly came out from nowhere and started shooting indiscriminately.
“They forced many vehicles to stop. I escaped because I managed to maneuver. I lost control but those who were in the car with me warned me to keep moving. As I tried to pull over at a point I saw four of the bandits emerging from nearby bush.
“As I tried to zoom off, the gunmen began to shoot. They ordered me to stop the car. Their bullets penetrated the boot of my car and got my car battery damaged.”
The injured traveller said he was moved from the spot with a motorcycle.
