The criminal elements who abducted two women in Igbaja, Ifelodun Local Government Area of Kwara State, are demanding N30 million as ransom for their release.

It was reported that gunmen abducted three women in the early hours of Sunday, September 29, 2024, but one of them escaped.

The kidnappers also killed a vigilante commander, the Jagun of Igbaja land, Chief Lukman Balogun, who led his team to the forest in the area in search of the kidnapped victims.

The killing of the prominent chief led to the protest by members of the community.

The Chairman of Ifelodun LG, Femi Yusuf, who confirmed the development to Punch on Thursday said that the kidnappers had gotten in touch with the families of the two women demanding payment of N30 million before they could be set free.

Yusuf, who said that efforts were being made to comb the forest to locate the women and their abductors said that both the state and the local government are making efforts to free the two people.

“The information I received from the families of the victims is that the kidnappers are demanding payment of N30 million before they could be released,” he said.

“Right now, soldiers, police, and the local vigilante in the local government are in the forest searching for the two people and probably the kidnappers.”

Yusuf, while lamenting the d@ath of Chief Lukman Balogun,  said that the death of the vigilante commander had dealt a great blow to the community.

“We are still mourning the late Jagun who is my uncle in Igbaja, we will do all within our power in conjunction with the state government and security agencies in the state to smoke out the kidnappers who have been terrorizing our people,” he added.

The spokesperson of the State Police Command, Ejire-Adeyemi Toun, confirmed the abduction of three women from the community on Sunday and the killing of Balogun on Monday evening.

“One Mohamadu reported at Igbaja Police station that three women were kidnapped in the community on Sunday, September 29, 2024. There was a report that the vigilante went on a rescue operation and a prominent chief of the town was k!lled during the exchange of fire between the kidnappers and the vigilante. One of the abducted women was said to have escaped the remaining two victims that were yet to be rescued,” the PPRO stated.

“The youth however grouped and blocked the road that no vehicle should pass through the town because they said that the chief was a good man to them when he was alive.”

Ejire-Adeyemi said that the youth had been calmed and normalcy had returned to the area.

She said that security men including the police, soldiers, and Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps have been mobilized to comb the forest to rescue the remaining victims and arrest the kidnappers.