Three Osun State Government Officials Kidnapped

BEVERLY HILLS, April 22, (THEWILL) – Three officials of the Osun State Government have been kidnapped, on Friday, while the Auditor General of the state managed to escape.

This was disclosed in a statement released by the State's Head of Service, Sunday Olayinka Owoeye, who revealed that they were seized at gunpoint at Obajana along Lokoja-Okene road in Kogi state while returning to Osogbo from Abuja where they had gone to represent the state.

“The officials were returning from Abuja where they attended the briefing on the State and Local Government Reforms Project; a World Bank and European Union Programme.”

The victims were taken into a nearby bush by their abductors, while the official vehicle in which they were traveling was abandoned on the road side.

The Permanent Secretary of the Osun State Ministry of Finance, Budget and Economic Planning, Adebimpe Ogunlumade, her driver, Oladapo Arogundade Ajani and a Director from the ministry, Tajudeen Badejoko are the abducted trio.

Yakubu Usman, the Commissioner of Police in Kogi, when contacted told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on phone that he was in Abuja to attend a conference, adding that he had not been briefed on the incident.

Story by David Oputah