Gunmen have abducted the wife and two children of the Member representing Ipaiye/Malete/Olooru Constituency in the Kwara State House of Assembly, Hon Lawal Ayanshola Soliu.
The abductors, our correspondent gathered, stormed the residence of the lawmaker around 1am wielding AK-47 rifles.
An elder in Shao community who did not want his name in print, said, “The abductors came in their numbers shooting sporadically before whisking the victims away. Their whereabouts have remained unknown although one of them who contacted the family did not make a demand for ransom, saying he was not with the others in the forest yet to harmonise their price.
“But in the meantime, the lawmaker has been advised to relocate from the town.”
Calls made to the lawmaker via telephone on Tuesday were not answered.
But the Chairman of the state’s vigilantes, Alhaji Ibrahim Saka, told our correspondent that, “It’s true, and we have dispatched our men to comb the forest for their possible rescue.”
When contacted, spokesman of the Kwara State Police Command, Ajayi Okasanmi, said, “Details are still sketchy, but I will get back as soon as we have a comprehensive update of the incident.”
City & Crime further reports that this is the second time that the lawmaker’s family will fall victims to kidnappers, as in September, 2022, the wife and a son were kidnapped before they were released after the payment of a ransom.
Speaking about the 2022 incident, Okasanmi said that two of their abductors were killed inside a forest in Moro LGA while they were sharing ransom.
He explained that, “The kidnappers were accosted in the bush while sharing the ransom collected from the family of the victims. Two of the kidnappers that suffered gunshot injuries during the encounter were arrested and taken to the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH) where they were confirmed dead.”
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