Numerous motorists were kidnapped on Saturday on the Benin-Owo Expressway in Ifon, the administrative centre of the Ose Local Government Area of Ondo State.
The exact number of casualties could not be determined because several accounts said that there were 32 or more victims.
The victims were reportedly travelling in a coastal bus from Benin to Ondo State, where they proceeded for the burial ritual, according to one of the sources at the town who told newsmen about the event on Sunday.
“However, when we arrived in the Ifon area, the thugs ambushed us and took all of the passengers into the woods.
According to a relative of one of the victims, “all the people in the car have been abducted since yesterday (Saturday) and no one has heard anything about them since then.”
The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), SP Funmilayo Odunlami, of the Ondo State Command, confirmed the event on Sunday but said she was unable to determine how many people were hurt.
Men from the command and other security organisations in the state reportedly started looking for the victims in the forest.
While the inquiry into the tragedy has begun, “Our personnel and other security agencies are already in the jungle to rescue the victims unharmed,” Odunlami stated.
