Residents of the Abatakan community, Ojoo, Ibadan, Oyo State, were thrown into panic on Saturday as gunmen reportedly stormed the home of Sheikh Taofeeq Akeugbagold, a popular Islamic cleric, and abducted his twin children.
The victims, Taiwo and Kehinde, aged two years and four months, were said to have been abducted around 8pm, while their father was in the studio for a recording.
Akeugbagold, who was the Chairman of the Oyo State Pilgrims Welfare Board, Muslim wing, during the administration of former governor Abiola Ajimobi, said the incident happened while some of his aides were with him in the studio.
The twins, according to a post on his Facebook wall, were born after his wife had endured a 12-year delay.
The cleric, who hails from the Akewugberu compound in the Oyo West Local Government Area of the state, said the male and female children, were in the house with their mother when the kidnappers broke into the compound.
The cleric, who pleaded with the abductors to release the children, said he was in the studio to record a Ramadan lecture at the time they were abducted.
He wrote on his Facebook page, “What a country! My twin children were kidnapped at gunpoint at my Ojoo residence, Ibadan, around 8pm Saturday, 10 minutes after I left my home recording lecture in a studio.
“Everybody should please, for Allah’s sake, assist me in prayer and beg the abductor to please be merciful with me, expecially their mother who was barren (waiting) for 12 years. I am begging not flexing. This is their pictures, help share wide.”
Confirming the abduction, the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Olugbenga Fadeyi, said, “Yes, there was an abduction of the Akewugbagold twins yesterday (Saturday).
“Efforts have since been intensified to rescue the victims and some arrests have been made. Those in custody are currently assisting us in our investigation.”