The Olori-Ilu of Imope town in the Ijebu North Local Government Area of Ogun State, Alademeta Kolawole Omotayo, has been kidnapped after gunmen waylaid him on Saturday.

He was moving in a butter-coloured Sport Utility Vehicle with plate number W 3 J9 Ogun when the gunmen shot at his vehicle and abducted him along Oke Eri-Imope Road, on his way from Ijebu-Ode, where he had gone to see someone.

A close source said the abductors fired bullets to deflate two tyres of his car, even as the bullets also pierced the engine, giving the kidnappers an opportunity to pull him out of the car and drag him into the bush:

Another source added: “He told us he was going to Ijebu Ode. On his way back home, around 3:00pm, unknown gunmen accosted him at Oke-Eri, a community not far from here and took him away. They didn’t go with his vehicle. They left his vehicle on the road,”

The Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Abimbola Oyeyemi, who confirmed the incident, said the police had launched a manhunt for the attackers, but the traditional ruler was yet to be released.

Vigilantes and hunters have reportedly joined the search party for the community leader, who is also said to be the President of Ijebu Igbo Club and a member of Ijebu-Ode Club.

It is not clear yet whether the abductors have communicated with the palace to demand a ransom, but police sources said the gunmen were believed to be some of the rampaging criminal herdsmen.