Ondo: 32 passengers abducted in transit

Missing director found dead, decomposing

About 32 people coming from Edo State in a coastal bus, yesterday, were said to have been kidnapped by unknown gunmen along Ifon/Benin Expressway and taken to the bush.

The Guardian learnt that the victims were returning from Benin City, after attending a burial ceremony. It was gathered that personnel of Ondo State Security Network codenamed- Amotekun, are currently combing the Benin-Ifon to Owo forest in the state in search of the victims.

At press time, yesterday, attempts to reach the state’s Commander of Amotekun, Mr. Adetunji Adeleye, for confirmation, were not successful, as it was gathered that he led his men and other security agencies to rescue the victims.

MEANWHILE, residents of Akure, the Ondo State capital, were, yesterday, thrown into mourning, following discovery of the dismembered body of a director in the state’s Teaching Service Commission (TESCOM), Mr. Gbenga Olofingboyegun.

Olofingboyegun, who was director of the Department of Research and Statistics in TESCOM Headquarters, Akure, was declared missing on Thursday, September1, 2022, after he left the office for an undisclosed place.

The Guardian learnt that suspecting he might have been kidnapped, the family and friends had waited to receive a call from his supposed abductors for ransom.

Sources within the family recounted that he received his letter of promotion to the post of a director about two months ago, revealing that the deceased had not even received financial benefits attached to the office.

His body was discovered in a classroom at St. Theresa’s Primary School, beside State Library, just before St. Peter’s Unity Sec. School, Oyemekun Road, Akure.

Though the state’s Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Funmi Odunlami, confirmed the development, she was, however, not sure of the decomposing body’s identity.