Gunmen kidnap Kogi monarch, wife

Gunmen have kidnapped the Oba of Idofin, Shedrack Durojaye Obibeni, and his wife along the Makutu-Idofin Road in Yagba East Local Government Area of Kogi State.

It was gathered that the traditional ruler and wife were abducted at about 5 p.m. on Monday, June 19.

Speaking on the incident, the Chairman of Yagba East Local Government, Abdulrasak Asiru, said he was still in shock over the abduction which he said had not happened in the area for about two years.

Asiru said: “I as the council chairman and the people of Yagba East are in great shock over the kidnap of our respected Oba and his wife this evening.

“This is because we in this LGA have a very robust security architecture keeping vigil and warding off criminal elements away from us.

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“This incident was well planned by the kidnappers because from what I learned, the Oba and his wife only moved out to see something, and in less than 10 minutes that incident happened.

“We smell a rat over this sad incident and we are not resting until we get to the criminal elements who did this dastardly act and rescue our traditional ruler and his wife.”

The council boss said alerts and messages have been sent to all the traditional rulers and community leaders in Okun land to be vigilant and conduct a thorough search for the rescue of the couple.

“As we speak, our hunters and vigilante group are already out into the bushes searching for the criminals so as to rescue our Oba and his wife as soon as possible,” he added.

However, the Kogi State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Williams Ovye-Aya, said he was yet to be briefed by the DPO of the affected area on the incident.

Ovye-Aya promised to release information on the development as soon he gets details.

The Star