The abductors of a retired United States of America Army officer, Major Jide Ijadare, have set him free after four days in captivity.
The gunmen, who invaded Ijadare’s palm oil factory along Ijan Ekiti-Ise Ekiti Road at Ijan in the Gbonyin Council area of Ekiti State, had shot a person dead at the factory before taking away the retired army officer and one other person on Tuesday.
A family source, who made the disclosure in a telephone conversation, said, “My brother was released this afternoon around 4.15 pm and he has reunited with the family.”
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Although the family source did not clarify the amount paid to the kidnappers as ransom, he said, “the man regained his freedom after paying a ransom to the kidnappers after a series of negotiations.”
He had on Wednesday disclosed that the abductors called a few hours after the kidnapping and demanded N20 million ransom.
The Police Public Relations Officer, Ekiti State Police Command, Mr Sunday Abutu, who confirmed that the abductee had been freed, however, said the police were not aware of the payment of any ransom before Ijadare’s release.
Abutu said, “We are not aware of any ransom paid. We believe he was released after the pressure from security agencies and hunters.”
