Angry residents blocked the busy Akure/Owo Expressway for hours, leaving motorists stranded and demanding urgent intervention by security agencies over the rising wave of kidnappings in the state

Five worshippers were abducted by gunmen who attacked a branch of the Celestial Church of Christ in Uso, Owo Local Government Area of Ondo State in the early hours of Wednesday.

Angry residents blocked the busy Akure/Owo Expressway for hours, leaving motorists stranded and demanding urgent intervention by security agencies over the rising wave of kidnappings in the state.

Sources said the attackers stormed the church at about 1 a.m. while a service was ongoing, seized the victims, and took them to an unknown location.

DSP Abayomi Jimoh, spokesperson for the Ondo State Police Command, said operatives, working with the Nigerian Army and local vigilante groups, quickly mobilised to the scene and began coordinated rescue operations.

Jimoh added, “As a result of sustained joint efforts, one of the kidnapped victims has been successfully rescued. One suspect linked to the incident has also been arrested and is cooperating with investigations.”

Efforts are ongoing to rescue the remaining victims and apprehend all perpetrators involved in the attack.

The incident recalls the 2022 attack on St. Francis Catholic Church in Owo, which left 41 people dead and 140 injured. Security concerns have remained high in Ondo and other South-West states, with kidnappings reportedly rising in recent months.

On January 26, residents of Ilu-Abo community in Akure North Local Government Area staged a protest after a woman, Oladeinde Tomilola, was kidnapped outside her home.

Eyewitnesses said assailants fired at her vehicle, damaging its fuel tank and tyres before taking her away. Two neighbours who intervened were shot and hospitalised, while a woman and her 11-year-old daughter sustained injuries during the attack.

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