Three Chinese miners had been reportedly abducted by some labourers they hired to work for them on a mining site located at Akere Village near Ifewara, Osun State.
Before the men were abducted, it was gathered that a policeman attached to the expatriates was killed.
The abduction, it was learnt, occurred following a disagreement between the expatriates and the labourers, said to be mainly northerners, hired to work on the site.
The details of what led to the disagreement was however unknown as of the time of filing this report.
A resident of Ifewara town, Gboyega Emmanuel, told The PUNCH that the incident occurred late Monday, adding that the expatriates were still being held by their abductors.
He also said a sum of N500m ransom was being demanded by the expatriates’ captors to free their victim.
The Corp Commandant, Amotekun Corps in Osun, Brigadier General Bashir Adewinbi, confirmed the abduction.
Adewinbi furrher explained that the identities of the abductors were yet to be known, saying security men had already been deployed in the area to secure the release of the expatriates.
He said, “Some Chinese expatriates were kidnapped at a mining site in a village in Ifewara. A police escort was also killed in the process. Men have been deployed in the village to rescue the victims.
“We are also investigating the circumstances behind the incidence with a view to bringing the culprits to justice.”
Also, the spokesperson of Osun State Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Daniel Adigun, said report of the abduction was received and that those abducted had not been released.
The Police Public Relations Officer of Osun Command, Yemisi Opalola, could not be reached for confirmation, as calls to her line rang out, while response to the text message sent to her were still being expected as of the time of filing the report. – Punch.
