Lagos: Kidnappers storm farm, whisk away LAUTECH graduate, 3 others
At least four persons; a lady and three men were reportedly kidnapped in Igbodu, a community in the Epe area of Lagos State, on Friday night.
The victims are all farm workers at Tanda Farm, reports say.
The lady, identified as 24-year-old Ifeoluwa Olabiyi, was taken along with four others at about 8pm, when their abductors broke through the gate of the farm, New Telegraph reports.
The men were said to have carried out the operation fully dressed in military camouflage and wielding dangerous weapons.
Olabiyi, a graduate of Nutrients and Biotechnology, Ladoke Akintola University, Ogbomosho, Oyo State, who had only resumed work on the farm two weeks ago, was reportedly whisked away through the bush, into a waiting speedboat.
The kidnap victim reportedly lost her dad during her third year in the institution.
Reports reveal the abductors had gotten in touch with their victims’ families, demanding N20 million ransom. Each victim is expected to cough up N5million.
“Before she went for her NYSC programme, she had already been working with Tanda Farms for seven months,” Olabiyi’s fiancé, Ayodeji Akinyemi, is quoted as saying.
“Immediately after her service, the farm owner invited her to come and work with him. She resumed two weeks ago. We spoke on Thursday. She promised to come home on Saturday.
“The next call I received after that was about her abduction. Since then, I have not been myself. The farm owner has been negotiating with the kidnappers.
“The police from Agbowa Police Station also promised to ensure they rescue her without getting her hurt. Her mother has been crying since her abduction.
“Where do the kidnappers expect us to get N5million from? She only started working in that farm because she was trying to make ends meet and to assist her mother. I’m appealing to the government and police to help in rescuing Ifeoluwa and others,” Akinyemi added.
Kidnapping in Lagos and its environs has been on the increase in recent time and has become a major cause for worry for residents.
Only last month, a two-year-old girl identified as Fareedah, along with another pregnant lady, was kidnapped by her mother’s killers in Ikorodu. Fareedah was released after an undisclosed ransom was paid.
Another kidnap incident in a Nigeria Turkish College in Ogun State saw at least eight females taken away. Their whereabouts remain unknown after the kidnappers reportedly made a demand of N1.2billion ransom.
Oodua People’s Congress (OPC) members in the Isheri area of Ogun State said yesterday they have arrested a suspect in connection with the Turkish College kidnaps.
Lagos State government recently passed into law death sentences for kidnappers whose victims die in custody.
