Osun PS Abducted by Unknown Gunmen

Some yet-to-be identified gun wielding men have abducted the Permanent Secretary of the Osun State Ministry of Finance, Budget and Economic Planning, Mrs. Adebimpe Ogunlumade on Friday.

The gunmen kidnapped Ogunlumade alonside the Director, State Audit of the ministry, Mr. Tajudeen Badejoko, and the Driver, Mr. Oladapo Ajani Arogundade at Obajana, along Lokoja-Okene in Kogi state.

The victims were said to have been kidnapped at gunpoint around 1:30pm on Friday.

But the Auditor General of the finance ministry who boarded the same vehicle with Ogunlumade and the Director was said to have escaped.

An impeccable source in the ministry who did not want his name in print told our correspondent that the kidnapped officials of the ministry were returning to Osogbo from Abuja, after a meeting in Abuja.

In a swift release signed by the state Head of Service, Mr. Sunday Olayinka Owoeye and made available to our correspondent in Osogbo, the government described the abduction as unfortunate.

The release reads in part: “Preliminary information available to us indicates that the gunmen accosted them between Obajana and Lokoja the Kogi State capital and forced them to stop before the three officials were violently whisked away.

“The officials were returning from Abuja where they attended the briefing on the State and Local Government Reforms Project; a World Bank and European Union Programme.

The Government has alerted all necessary security agencies nationwide in general and Kogi State in particular towards safe release of the three abducted officials.

We appeal to all Nigerians for information that could lead to their immediate release.”