Six female footballers have been kidnapped by gunmen in Uronigbe, a border community between Edo and Delta States in Orhionmwon local government area of Edo State.
In the same vein, a female student of the Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, MAPOLY, Abeokuta, Happiness Odeh, was reportedly kidnapped and killed by her abductors.
Sunday Vanguard gathered that the footballers were kidnapped around 6 pm on Friday while returning from a football competition at Owa-Alero in Ika North-East LGA of Delta State.
A source in the community said the kidnappers have contacted some families demanding a ransom of N5 million for each of the victims.
"They (footballers) went to Owa-Alero to play a football match, so, on their way back, they were kidnapped at Uronigbe area, the boundary between Delta and Edo states", the source said.
"The victims include Mrs Precious Agbajor, one Abraham, Nancy, Beatrice including the driver. They are six in number that are in the kidnappers' den. The matter has been reported to the Uronigbe police station.
"The kidnappers have contacted the family of Agbajor and asked them to pay N5 million for his wife".
When contacted, Delta State Police Command Public Relations Officer, DSP Bright Edafe, confirmed the incident, while his Edo counterpart, Chidi Nwabuzor, said there was no such incident.
"There is no such record before us. From the Command's record, no such incident happened yesterday (Friday) so the police will not give an account of anything unreported", Nwabuzor asserted.
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Meanwhile, the MAPOLY community has been thrown into mourning following the reported killing of Happiness Odeh by her abductors.
Odeh, it was gathered, won the Miss MAPOLY beauty contest on August 3, 2022.
The ND2 student of Mass Communication was said to have been kidnapped on her way to Ipara, in Ode Remo on Tuesday evening.
She was said to have been raped by unknown persons before killing her.
A statement by the Students Union President, Sodiq Ajani and the Public Relations Officer, Joy Okolie, confirmed the incident, adding that the deceased was kidnapped on her way to a movie location.
"It was so pathetic. The kidnappers killed her and went away with her phone. Her body was found inside the bush along Iperu road. The body has been deposited at the mortuary. We were at the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital, Sagamu, yesterday, with the parents. May God rest her soul," the statement read.
Efforts to reach Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer, Abimbola Oyeyemi, were unsuccessful as he did not answer calls on his phone.
