Olusegun Ariyo
A family of three and four others have reportedly been abducted by gunmen suspected to be kidnappers in the Ivbiaro community in Owan East Local Government Area.
Urban Express News Online reports that the family were travelling with the other four victims who are their family friends from Kaduna State to the community to attend the 40-day fidau prayer of a late mother-in-law.
The kidnapped family members were a father, a mother, and a son, while the driver escaped into the bush.
It was gathered that the victims were kidnapped on Thursday, a few meters from the community along the Auchi-Warrake road, at a bad spot not too far from a security checkpoint on the road.
A source close to the victims said the family chartered the vehicle from Kaduna State to the community to attend the program slated for Saturday, May 3, 2025.
The source who spoke on condition of anonymity said, the kidnappers, however, abandoned a mother and her two children and held the other four hostages.
He alleged that the mother and her two children were abandoned because of the cries of her children.
He said the suspected kidnappers later released the father of the family, simply identified as Mallam Nezifi, his wife, while his son, a female friend who was also accompanying them to the community for the prayers was, however, taken into captivity.
He added that the kidnappers are demanding a sum of N10 million ransom.
He said the development has thrown the entire community into confusion as the prayers could no longer take place.
The family is reported to be doing everything possible to get the ransom to free the abducted victims.
