Kidnappers of a cattle dealer, Olushola Ayanshola, who was abducted along Otu-Alaga Road, in the Itesiwaju Local Government Area of Oyo State have demanded N30m for his release.
Punch reports that Ayanshola was returning from his farm around Alaga Road, close to Radio Station, Otu town, on Sunday evening when two gun-wielding kidnappers, intercepted his motorcycle and shot sporadically into the air to scare motorists and passersby.
Thereafter, the farmer was reportedly whisked away into the bush and efforts by his family members and security agents to locate his whereabouts proved abortive.
Speaking with Punch, Ayanshola’s son, Olawale, said the kidnappers contacted the family on Monday to demand N30m ransom, adding that his father pleaded with him and his elder brother, Emmanuel, to find a way to raise the money because the abductors tied him down at a location in the bush.
Olawale was quoted to have said, “The incident happened around 6pm on Sunday. My father visited his farm to supervise the labourers working on the farm and to settle them. After he was done at the farm located at Alaga, close to Radio Station, Otu town, he was returning home around 6pm when two armed kidnappers came out of the bush and ambushed him.
“We were told that my father left the motorcycle on the road and was making an attempt to run into the bush like other people at the scene of the attack when the kidnappers started shooting.
“Because my father was the target, they stopped him and whisked him away into the bush. Those that escaped said they were hiding in the bush when they heard gunshots and that it was when they no longer heard gunshots that they came out of hiding.”
Olawale said the people who escaped the attack said they were expecting his father to also come out of hiding but when he was nowhere to be found, they raised the alarm that he had been kidnapped.
He noted that the kidnappers abandoned Ayanshola’s motorcycle at the scene of the attack, adding that the suspects had been adamant about collecting N30m ransom before releasing his father.