By Tola Gbadamosi

Abductors of the All Progressives Congress (APC) chairman in Ondo State, Nelson Adepoyigi, have slashed their ransom demand to N5 million and added food items to the list of conditions for his release.

The development was disclosed to Weekend Hope in the early hours of Thursday by the Chairman of Ose Local Government Area, Hon. Kolapo Oja.

“As of last night, the negotiation we received from them was N5 million,” Oja said.

He explained that negotiations were still ongoing, adding that no final agreement had been reached on the amount to be paid.

“We have appealed to them to reduce the ransom to a more reasonable amount,” he added.

“I asked the family members and some council officials to return and see if they could negotiate it down to N2 million.

“They are yet to report back. We hope he returns safely to us.”

Adepoyigi, who serves as a ward chairman in Ose Local Government Area of the state, was abducted at about 10 p.m. on Monday while parking his car at his residence in Ifon town.

It was learnt that the gunmen pounced on him and reportedly beat him with sticks before whisking him away.

The kidnappers have since established contact with the victim’s family.

They initially demanded N100 million for his release, but later reduced the ransom to N5 million.