Armed bandits kill OPC member, abduct farmer in Ondo

Armed bandits suspected to be kidnappers have killed a member of the Oodua Peoples Congress, OPC, Daniel Adejuyigbe in Iju community, Akure North Local Government Area of the Ondo State.

The man was killed while in pursuit of the bandits who had kidnapped a farmer, Solomon Akinmeji in the community.

The farmer was said to have been kidnapped on his farm at Okeji farm settlement in Atoka axis of Iju community which is a border town between Ondo State and Ikere-Ekiti in Ekiti State.

Speaking on the development, a youth leader in the town, Ayodeji Ogundeji said the bandits, whom he described as herdsmen on Saturday kidnapped the farmer which informed the decision of youths in the community and OPC members to organize a search party on Sunday to locate the abductee in the bush and set him free from his abductors.

The youth leader added that the search for the missing farm owner continued on Tuesday morning, as the group numbering about thirty moved to the forest in batches, while the late Adejuyigbe headed in a separate direction to continue his search for the missing farmer.

Ogundeji noted that after the whole exercise, all search party members assembled but the late Adejuyigbe was not present, the development he explained made them intensify more efforts to look for him.

“Daniel fell out of his search group by moving afar to locate the missing farm owner before he was abducted and shot dead by the herders.”

While adding that herdsmen have been terrorizing the community for a long while, Ogundeji said the kidnapped farmer is still with his abductors while the remains of the late Adejuyigbe Daniel had been deposited at the morgue.