Gunmen suspected to be kidnappers have kidnapped no fewer than 10 travellers in Ose Local Council Area of Ondo State.

The gunmen struck in the Ipele axis along the Owo-Benin highway, within the council area of the state when the space bus of the travellers was waylaid.

A few days ago, gunmen suspected to be herders shot dead five farmers in Ajegunle-Powerline in the Akure North local council area, with the perpetrators yet to be apprehended.

According to sources, the passengers were en route to Akure, the state capital of Akwa Ibom State, when they were attacked and forced to a stop by the gunmen.

One of the sources, who craved anonymity, disclosed that the driver of the space bus had initially thought that the gunmen were security operatives but realised that they were criminals when they shot sporadically into the air.

He said: “There were 10 of them (victims); they were kidnapped on the Owo-Ipele road on Saturday morning at about 12 am. Their vehicles were stopped, and they were dragged into the bush to an unknown destination.”

“The hoodlums ambushed them and whisked all the occupants of the vehicle into the bush.

“All the occupants of the vehicle were abducted, and nobody heard anything about them since then.”

Another source disclosed that the abductors had contacted the families of the victims, demanding an unspecified amount of money for ransom, threatening to kill the victims if the ransom is delayed.

While confirming the incident, the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Funmilayo Odunlami-Omisanya, however, stated that only seven people were kidnapped.

She said: “The police received information that a vehicle was attacked along the Owo/Ifon road, and seven people were suspected to have been abducted.

“Seven travellers were involved; they were coming from Akwa Ibom State in a commercial bus. Our men are already making efforts to rescue the victims from the kidnappers and arrest the perpetrators.”