Police begin search for methodist priest, 2 others kidnapped by suspected herdsmen

- A search for a methodist priest and two thers abducted by gunmen suspect to be herdsmen has started in Osun state

- The police and individuals from the church have all spread out to look for the missing trio

- The missing three were abducted on Sunday, June 10, around 7pm

The Nigeria Police Force, Osun Command, says it has deployed officers to rescue a Methodist priest and two other persons abducted on the Iwo – Ibadan Road on Sunday, June 10, by gunmen suspected to be herdsmen.

Mufutau Ayinde, the deputy commissioner of police in charge of operations, made the disclosure in Osogbo on Monday, June 11, while speaking with newsmen.

He stated that the priest and two others were kidnapped at about 7:10 p.m. on Sunday, stressing that the matter was reported to the Police Division in Iwo.

Ayinde, who said officers were immediately mobilised to the scene of the incident, added that they had been working to rescue the victims.

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He, however, said the kidnappers had not contacted anybody or made any ransom demands from the families of the abducted persons.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that some gun men were reported to have abducted Very Rev. Kayode Akande, and two other leaders of the church on Sunday while returning to Osogbo from Ile-Ogbo.

Other groups have formed search parties to look out for the missing persons as well.

Confirming the incident, the Bishop of Methodist Church, Osogbo Diocese, Most Rev. Amos Ogunrinde, said the priest and the two church members were returning from a Men’s Fellowship held at Ile-Ogbo.

Ogunrinde said the priest and other members were in a convoy of two private cars when they encountered the bandits on the road. He said the bandits, according to reports, had asked the victims for money but they could not meet their demand as they were coming from a fellowship.

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Legit.ng previously reported that twenty-three travellers including a nursing mother and her infant have allegedly been adopted from commercial vehicles by armed bandits while they were travelling through Birnin-Gwari road, Kaduna state on Friday, June 8.

An eye-witness, a commercial driver, Mohammed Kebbi, who witnessed the event said about were intercepted and their occupants kidnapped by the bandits.

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Source: Legit.ng