Panic has gripped residents of Igbo Ofe Ora, a quiet agrarian settlement near Oke-Ode in Ifelodun Local Government Area of Kwara State, after armed men invaded the community, abducting a housewife identified as Rukayat and shooting her brother-in-law, Abdulateef.
The attackers reportedly stormed the village around 11 a.m. on Monday, firing sporadically before whisking the woman away.
A relative of the victims told PLATFORM TIMES that the community had been thrown into fear since the invasion.
“The woman kidnapped is my uncle’s wife. It happened yesterday around 11 in the morning,” the distraught family source said.
“One of my elder brothers, who stays with my dad, was also attacked. He wasn’t killed but he was seriously injured and is now in the hospital.”
He said the gunmen struck at the moment his younger brother was returning to the village on a motorcycle.
“They rode into the village and immediately started shooting. My younger brother was just coming back on his bike. People fled into the bush. That was how they took my father’s younger brother’s wife away,” he recounted.
According to him, only Rukayat was taken away, and the kidnappers have since reached out to the family, demanding a ₦100 million ransom.
“They have called us. They said we must bring ₦100 million if we want her alive,” he said.
The family said efforts to secure medical care for the injured Abdulateef were delayed due to a strike by medical workers at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital.
“We rushed him to UITH but doctors were on strike. We had no choice but to take him to a private hospital,” he added.
As of press time, security agencies had not issued any official statement regarding the attack.
Residents said that fear has surged across the community, with many abandoning their farms.
The incident occurred barely hours after terrorists ambushed traders travelling from Koro in the Ekiti Local Government Area of Kwara to Egbe in Yagba West Local Government Area of Kogi State for the weekly Ebu Market Day.
The gunmen reportedly intercepted vehicles along the Koro–Egbe route, leaving commuters traumatised.
Community members are calling for urgent government intervention, warning that insecurity in the area is worsening.
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