Operatives of the Kwara State Police Command and other security agencies have been deployed to various forests in Kwara State to search for Mr Mohammed Zarma, a retired Deputy Comptroller of the Nigeria Custom Service, who was abducted in his farm at Egbejila area in Asa Local Government Area of the state on Thursday evening.
Mohammed, according to SP Ajayi Okasanmi, Police Public Relations Officer in the state Command, was allegedly kidnapped at about 5.30pm on Thursday in his farm at Oke Jia near Egbejila by some gunmen, who were speaking a particular Nigerian language.
The police said the gunmen fired some gunshots during the kidnap of the retired Customs Comptroller as four empty shells of expended ammunition were recovered by security operatives who visited the farm after the incident.
Okasanmi in a statement titled, ‘Serious effort ongoing to rescue a kidnapped victim at Oke Jia farm, Egbejila area’ issued on Friday, said, “The Kwara State Police Command under the leadership of CP Tuesday Assayomo has deployed relevant assets, both human and material, for the rescue of one Mohammed Zarma ‘M’, a retired Deputy Comptroller of Nigeria Custom Service, who was kidnapped on his farm located at Oke Jia, Egbejila at about 1730hrs of 6/1/2022 by some gunmen speaking a particular Nigerian language.
“On the visit to the scene after the incident by the Command’s operatives, four empty shells of expended ammunition were recovered.
“The Commissioner of Police, Kwara State, CP Tuesday Assayomo, wishes to assure the family of the victim and indeed the general public that no effort would be spared in getting the victim rescued unhurt and possibly arrest the perpetrators of the crime, please,” the statement read.
Read Also:
Meanwhile, security operatives are also combing forest in Kwara and Ekiti states in search of three of the four victims, who were abducted on Thursday by suspected gunmen along Obo Ayegunle/Osi Road in Ekiti Local Government area of Kwara State.
A mechanic identified as Sunday Balogun, his pregnant wife, Mary; his apprentice, Taiye; and his twin brother, Kehinde, were allegedly kidnapped while travelling in a Toyota Sienna bus.
The victims were said to be travelling from Obbo Ayegunle to Osi when their vehicle was waylaid by the kidnappers in the middle of the 12-kilometer road.
A security personnel, who does not want his name in print, said a woman identified as Mary believed to be the wife of the mechanic had been rescued from the forest by the combined team of security operatives deployed to rescue the victims.
A close relation of the mechanic, Mrs Laoye Seyifunmi, told Saturday PUNCH that the kidnappers abandoned Sunday’s vehicle by the roadside after ordering the victims into the bush.
Another close family source, who prefers anonymity, said the kidnappers had contacted the family, demanding N10m ransom.
“They have contacted the family demanding N10m ransom. We have been able to negotiate it to N4m. Although the family and community have been able to gather N2m; they rejected it and directed that a Toyota Sienna bus in his workshop should be sold to pay the ransom,” he said.
The security official confided in our correspondent that operatives drawn from all security agencies, hunters and vigilance groups had been deployed to trail the abductors and search for the rest three victims in Kwara and Ekiti states’ forests.
We still have Sunday and the twin brothers in the kidnappers’ den as we speak now. But they (kidnapers) have since left the wife,” the source added.
