The Police have gone on the manhunt of kidnappers of two staff of the Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria, CRIN, Idi-Ayunre, Ibadan, Oyo State.

The Commissioner of Police of the Oyo State Command, CP Abimbola Ayodeji Olugbemiga, emphasised that intensive bush-combing and coordinated search operations were subsequently launched across surrounding locations linked to the kidnapping, on receiving report of the incident.

The Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, of the Oyo State Police Command, DSP Ayanlade Olayinka, in a statement, indicated that during one of the operations on Tuesday, police operatives intercepted two suspicious persons, identified as Shehu and Abubakar. Preliminary interrogation, according to him, led the suspects to volunteer information about the hideout of other members of the kidnapping syndicate

While approaching the suspected hideout, the police team came under heavy gunfire attack from armed men.

The Police, acknowledging the abduction of two staff members of the Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria, CRIN, Idi-Ayunre, Ibadan, Oyo State, however, debunked reports alleging mass abduction in Ibadan and surrounding communities.

The PPRO in the statement indicated that the incident happened on Monday, at about 6:00 p.m. when armed men reportedly invaded the premises of CRIN at Idi-Ayunre and abducted two staff members to unknown destination.

He said that distress report was lodged at the Idi-Ayunre Divisional Police Headquarters by the institution’s Chief Security Officer, prompting an immediate response from police operatives, who visited the scene for an on-the-spot assessment.

The PPRO disclosed that preliminary investigations revealed that approximately six armed men carried out the operation, who fled into nearby forest with the kidnapped victims.

The Commissioner of Police, Oyo State Command, CP Abimbola Ayodeji Olugbemiga, ordered the immediate deployment of tactical and intelligence teams, including operatives of the Anti-Kidnapping Squad, to ensure the safe rescue of the victims and the arrest of the culprits.