VAM News Update

Six residents of Oyan, a town in the Odo-Otin Local Government Area of Osun State, have been abducted by gunmen while returning from the farm.

The victims were said to be returning to Oyan from Aworo village where their farmlands were located when the abductors struck on Monday around 5.30 pm.

A source, however, revealed that a chief in the Oyan community, who was part of those abducted, escaped from the abductors in the early hours of Tuesday.

“This morning (Tuesday), hunters, police operatives, other security men and volunteers returned to the bush around where the victims were abducted. The place is close to Kwara State.

Around 2am, one of the victims, a female chief in Oyan, escaped from the abductors but others are still there as of Tuesday evening,” the source said.

The spokesperson for the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps in the state, Kehinde Adeleke, confirmed the incident, adding that a search and rescue operation was ongoing for others still in captivity.

She said, “Six people, including a chief from Oyan, were abducted last (Monday) night along Aworo/Asi area (Ila Road) of Odo Otin North Local Council Development Area at gunpoint.

But a female chief among them managed to escape around 2am on Tuesday, August 22, 2023. Five others are still in the kidnappers’ custody.

“Security agencies and local hunters in the community and its environs have been deployed for search and rescue mission.”