By Adewale Momoh, Akure

Gunmen suspected to be kidnappers at the weekend shot two people dead and abducted five others at the weekend along the Ifon-Owo highway in Ose Local Council Area of Ondo State.

The deceased victims, who were among those in the vehicle attacked by the gunmen, were identified as the driver of the vehicle and a female passenger.

According to sources, the kidnappers, who were armed with AK-47 rifles, waylaid the commercial vehicle, a Sienna spacebus, at Omi Alafa village with the Ifon axis, with five of the passengers whisked into the forest.

During the attack, two of the passengers who sustained varying degrees of injuries were said to have escaped from the abductors.

According to a source, the vehicle that was heading to Akure, the state capital, was coming from Anambra State before the gunmen forced it to stop after shooting at it sporadically.

The source, who craves anonymity, disclosed that the corpses of the driver and one of the passengers occupying the front seat, a lady, have been deposited at the mortuary in Ifon.

Confirming the incident, the Ondo State Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Fumilayo Odunlami-Omisanyan, said the command cannot ascertain the exact number of escaped victims.

The police spokesperson stated that operatives had been deployed to rescue the victims.

She said, “Our men are fully on the ground, combing the forest to ensure that the kidnapped victims are rescued.”