No fewer than four persons were on Wednesday kidnapped by gunmen during a midnight raid at Ilasa Ekiti, Ekiti East Local Government Area of the state.

Eyewitnesses from the community confirmed that the gunmen stormed Eti- Ero farmstead in Ilasa Ekiti around 1:30 am and ransacked the place.

According to multiple sources, a child believed to be Yoruba and three Ebira farmers, were kidnapped and taken to an unknown destination.

The source said: “The gunmen came around 1.30 am and started shooting sporadically. The gunshots generated a lot of panic and some brave people among them had to rush out of their buildings and fled into the bush.

“As they were shooting, they were searching all the buildings and in the course of doing the searching, they got home of a child confirmed to be less than 10 years and three others who were farmers.

“They have been taken to an unknown destination and no one has been contacted as of now.”

When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer, Ekiti Command, ASP Sunday Abutu, said two persons were abducted, not four.

“Even the police have rescued one of the captives from the abductors and one person had been arrested in connection with the midnight raid.

“Our men are searching the bushes for the only person in their custody. We assure the people of Ekiti State that we will get him rescued and the culprits will be arrested to face justice”, Abutu said.