Local vigilantes on Sunday foiled an attempted kidnap of Olori (Queen) Grace Faduyile, wife of the Abodi of Ikale-land, Oba Gabriel Babatunde Faduyile, in Okitipupa Local Government Area of Ondo State, SaharaReporters can authoritatively report.
A source that confirmed the incident to a SaharaReporters correspondent in Akure through an emergency phone call said some of the suspected kidnappers waylaid Olori Grace at the front of the palace in Ikoya shortly after a church service.
The source claimed to be part of the rescue team but pleaded anonymity and disclosed that the abductors, numbering about three, were armed to the teeth with dangerous weapons during the unsuccessful operation.
According to the source, the monarch, Oba Gabriel Babatunde Faduyile, was at Okitipupa main town to attend the Armed Forces Remembrance Day when he got wind of the attempted abduction of his wife and immediately gave an order for a rescue mission.
“The Olori (Queen) was heading home after the church service when the kidnappers waylaid and seized her in the presence of her friend who drove the vehicle conveying her into the palace on Sunday," the source disclosed.
“Immediately after the incident happened, people around raised an alarm and a search party was quickly formed by the local hunters (vigilante group) while a trap was set across the border line of the river.
“Just like a Nollywood movie, it was a serious gun battle between the brave local hunters and the kidnappers. Even some frightened parents had to rush down and retrieve their children playing at the bank of the river,” the source told our correspondent.
He added that the kidnappers were later overpowered by the combined effort of the local hunters at the bank of the river while they were trying to exit the community with a canoe.
This same source further explained that the hunters quickly gunned down one of the fleeing kidnappers who tried to escape with the abducted monarch’s wife before crossing the river.
“They (local hunters) killed one and nabbed another member of the kidnap gang before he was handed over to the security agencies in the local community for further investigation,” the source revealed.
SaharaReporters learnt that the arrested kidnapper is currently in police custody for further investigation.
Meanwhile, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Omo’ba Abayomi Adesanya, has condemned the attempted kidnapping of the monarch’s wife.
Mr. Adesanya, who hails from the area, in a statement obtained by our correspondent said the action of the kidnappers is sacrilegious and taboo to the region.
He urged the police to double-up their efforts through intelligence gathering to forestall future occurrences.
Olori Grace Faduyile, wife of the Abodi of Ikale-land
BY SAHARA REPORTERS
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