Unknown gunmen on Tuesday abducted the immediate past Provost of the Federal College of Education (FCE), Osile, Abeokuta, Ogun State, Ayodele Adetayo Ajayi.
Meanwhile, Ajayi’s wife was later released by the abductors while he and his driver were taken away.
According to a top management staff of the institution, who spoke on the condition of anonymity confirmed the abduction of the former Provost to Vanguard on telephone.
He said, a resident of the area who spoke under the condition of anonymity revealed that the gunmen came out of the bush to attack Ajayi and other motorists along the road.
He added that the gunmen who shot sporadically into the air blocked the road and whisked away their victims.
The source lamented the increasing rate of abduction at Olodo axis of the Abeokuta-Ibadan road, alleged that no fewer than five persons have been kidnapped in the last one week in the area.
“Just yesterday, the gunmen abducted five persons, but two out of them were later released.
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“Also, last month, three people were killed. Among those who were killed was a popular businessman who operated a big farm along the axis.
“We need help, this is getting too much. Our people are no longer safe, we need government’s intervention and security agencies to wake up to their responsibilities”, the source said.
When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of the State Police command, Omolola Odutola confirmed the incident, stressing that the police and other security operatives are on the trail of the abductors.
“We don’t know the identity of the man yet. We cannot say whether he was a former provost or not. But we can confirm that someone was kidnapped.
“We learnt that the victim and his wife were coming from a function. I think the wife of the man has a school and they were just returning from an event in the school when the gunmen struck.
“The gunmen took a lot of people initially, but they later released them and took the man, his wife and the driver.
“But police and other security operatives mounted pressure on the abductors which made them to later released other people kidnapped, including the man’s wife, but the man and his driver were taken away.
“The police have recovered the vehicle of the man which was later abandoned by the abductors. We are on the trail of the abductors”, Odutola said.
