By John Dike, Osogbo
Suspected gunmen have abducted a retired officer of the Nigeria Customs Service, Emmanuel Owolabi, during a violent attack on Ora, a border community between Osun and Kwara states, leaving one person dead and residents gripped by fear.
The incident occurred along Akisa Road, Ora, Osun State, a few minutes before 7:00 p.m. on Monday, eyewitnesses said.
Residents disclosed that the assailants stormed the area and fired sporadic gunshots, forcing people to flee in different directions, before escaping into the surrounding bush with the abducted victim.
Narrating the ordeal, the victim’s wife, Mrs. Titilayo Owolabi, said her husband was abducted in front of their residence shortly after visiting her shop.
According to her, Owolabi had stopped by her shop around 6:30 p.m. after she closed for the day and asked her to return home, while he went elsewhere in the community.
“I had finished cooking and was about to serve my children when I suddenly heard gunshots at the entrance of our compound,” she said.
“At first, I thought it was hunters who sometimes pass through the area, but the gunshots continued. Then I heard my husband’s voice outside the fence.”
Unaware that her husband was already being held by the gunmen, Mrs. Owolabi said she stepped outside, where one of the assailants jumped into their compound.
“They were speaking Hausa, so I spoke to him in Hausa and knelt down, pleading. Instead, he started beating me and demanding money,” she recounted.
She added that the attackers continued firing shots before whisking her husband away on a motorcycle into the bush.
“The next thing I heard was the sound of a motorcycle taking my husband away. After that, the gunmen jumped over the fence and disappeared,” she said, appealing to the authorities and the public to help secure her husband’s release.
Community sources further revealed that while fleeing the scene, the gunmen shot dead a village chief, identified simply as Dennis, who was returning from his farm.
Confirming the incident on Tuesday, the spokesperson for the Osun State Police Command, Abiodun Ojelabi, said security operatives had been deployed to comb the surrounding bushes.
“Immediately the incident occurred, police operatives, alongside other security volunteers, pursued the attackers,” Ojelabi said.
He confirmed that one person was killed during the attack but noted that the location where the village chief was shot falls within Kwara State.
“We are working tirelessly to rescue the abducted victim,” he assured.
