Gunmen on Monday kidnapped four persons along Oke Ako-Irele Road in the Ajoni Local Council Development Area of Ekiti State.

Sources said the victims included the principal of a secondary school in the area, two teachers and a nurse with a primary health care centre, who were returning home at the close of work.

It was learnt that the kidnappers waylaid the four persons and whisked them to the forest, leaving the principal’s vehicle on the road.

A source at Irele Ekiti said, “There is anger in the LCDA here. These kidnap incidents and attacks are worrisome. Nobody is sure of his safety again. We need help; something has to be done urgently to guarantee the security of our people in the homes, streets, farms and roads.”

The Chairman, Ajoni LCDA, Michael Ogungbemi, who lamented the incident, said the security agency of the council in conjunction with men of the police, hunters and Amotekun corps had been mobilised to comb the bushes and forests in the area.

Ogungbemi said, “When I got the report, I quickly mobilised men of Operation Ebborac to begin forest combing at Irele and Oke Ako. I also reported the matter to the Divisional Police Officer in charge of Ikole Police Division; his men are also here combing the bush so that we can waylay these people in the forest.

“We have also mobilised Operation Ebborac operatives in the neighbouring towns of Itapaji, and Iyemero and hunters as well to begin forest combing so that we can nab them in the thick forest where they are keeping the people. We believe that before daybreak, we should be able to apprehend the criminals and release our people.”

The Commander, Ekiti Amotekun Corps, Brig. Gen. Joe Komolafe (retd), who said his men alongside men of the Nigerian Army and the police had begun search for the captives, assured that their efforts would culminate in their release.