Police officer killed, varsity don abducted along Lagos-Ibadan expressway

One police officer was killed and another injured during a clash with suspected kidnappers along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway on Friday.

The suspected kidnappers who were in military uniform laid siege to the Dominica University area along the highway on Friday night and abducted an unspecified number of passengers including a lecturer at the University of Ibadan, Prof. Adigun Agbaje.

One of the lecturer’s relations told journalists on Saturday that the kidnappers had contacted the family and demanded N50 million ransom.

The spokesman for the Oyo State police command, Adewale Osifeso, confirmed the incident.

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He said the operatives attached to the toll gate heard information about the sporadic gunshots around Dominion University’s end of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway on Friday night and mobilized to the scene.

He said: “The command responded swiftly to the incident with the deployment of Anti-crime patrol operatives, tactical teams, Police Mobile men, and local hunters led by the Divisional Police Officer to rescue the abductees.

“During the process, one of the officers paid the supreme price while another badly injured officer is presently responding to treatment. So far, expended ammunition shells and four abandoned vehicles were retrieved at the scene.

“Furthermore, the Commissioner of Police, Adebowale Williams, has ordered full-scale scientific and technological aided investigations to unravel the events that led to the incident with the Deputy Commissioner in charge of the State Criminal Investigation Department leading the charge.”