Gunmen suspected to be kidnappers have reportedly abducted a family of three and four others in Ivbiaro community in Owan East Local Government Area of Edo State.
The kidnapped family members were a father, a mother, and a son.
The incident occurred Thursday, a few meters from the community along the Auchi-Warrake road, at a bad spot not too far from security checkpoint on the road.
It was gathered that the family was traveling with the other four victims, who are their family friends from Kaduna State, to the community to attend the 40-day fidau payer of a late mother-in-law.
A source close to the victims said the family chartered the vehicle from Kaduna State to the community to attend the program slated for Saturday, May 3, 2025.
The source, who did not want his name mentioned, said the kidnappers, however, abandoned a mother and her two children and held the other four hostages.
He claimed that the mother and her two children were abandoned because of the cries of her children.
The source further stated that the suspected kidnappers later released the father of the family, simply identified as Mallam Nezifi, and his wife, while his son and a female friend who was also accompanying them to the community for the prayers were, however, taken into captivity.
He added that the kidnappers are demanding the sum of N10 million as ransom.
The family is said to be doing everything possible to get the ransom to free the abducted victims from the kidnappers’ den.
