Kogi monarch, wife kidnapped by gunmen

Oba of Idofin in Kogi State Shedrack Obibeni and his wife have been kidnapped by gunmen.

The incident happened in Yagba East Local Government Area in the state.

It was gathered that Obibeni and his wife were kidnapped along Makutu-Idofin road in the state at about 5 pm on Monday.

Abdulrasak Asiru, Yagba-east LGA council chairman, confirmed the incident.

Asiru said the LGA takes security seriously and that such an incident had not been recorded in the area in almost two years.

“I as the council chairman and the people of Yagba East are in great shock over the kidnap of our respected Oba and his wife this evening.

“This is because we in this LGA have a very robust security architecture keeping vigil and warding off criminal elements away from us.

“This incident was well-planned by the kidnappers because from what I learnt, the Oba and his wife only moved out to see something and in less than 10 minutes that incident happened.

“We smell a rat over this sad incident and we are not resting until we get to the criminal elements who did this dastardly act and rescue our traditional ruler and his wife.”

The council boss said alerts and messages have been sent to all the traditional rulers and community leaders in Okun land to be vigilant and conduct a thorough search for the rescue of the couple.

He added: “As we speak, our hunters and vigilante group are already out into the bushes, searching for the criminals so as to rescue our Oba and his wife as soon as possible.”