The Ondo State Security Network Agency (Amotekun corps), have successfully secured the freedom of the remaining three passengers who were part of the 12 abducted by bandits in Ondo state.
The Lagos-bound passengers who were coming from Abuja had been waylaid and abducted along the Ifira-Akoko/Idoani Road.
However, through a resilient taskforce set up by the Amotekun commandant, nine of the passengers were rescued within 24 hours of their abduction.
The remaining three have finally been set free after thorough intelligence gathering and searching of the forests in the area.
The Ondo state Amotekun commander, Adetunji Adeleye disclosed this to journalists on Saturday, adding that men of the Amotekun corps were deployed immediately after getting wind of the abduction, which led to the rescue of the victims.
According to Adeleye, the bandits fled due to the superior firepower of the Amotekun corps.
“After we were able to secure the release of the first nine, operatives still continued in the forest and we were combing the forest that is so massive,” he said.
“It is the same forest that extends to some parts of Kogi so we started tracing them. Once they started maintaining contacts with their (victims) families, we also started tracing and tracking up to the point where we gave them a very hot chase.
“To the glory of God, we were able to secure their release. For now, we have not made any arrests but we are tracking and working on them.”
The Amotekun commander added that the rescue operation was in collaboration with the Department of State Services (DSS) operatives and the Ondo State Police Command.
The victims narrated their ordeal, stating that they trekked for hours on end in the forest without food or water.
Three of the rescued kidnapped victims – Benjamin Ojoga, Omolara Fajana and Faith Sunday – confirmed that they were coming from Abuja and going to Lagos when the bandits waylaid them and shot into the air before whisking them away into the forest.
