A couple and their four-month-old baby, along with two other unidentified youths, were abducted last Saturday evening in Umukenekpu, Ndegwu, Owerri West Local Government Area of Imo State.

A resident, who escaped from the hoodlums, told reporters that the victims were seized at about 5pm while on their way to inspect a property in the area.

The source disclosed that the attackers, numbering about five, ambushed them near a residential building. Only one of the hoodlums was armed with an AK-47 rifle. The others were said to be carrying daggers and machetes.

“I was lucky to have escaped from the people,” the source said. “They looked like Fulani people. They ambushed us as we were going to inspect a property close to our residential building. As they took us into the bush and were tying us one after the other, I took a risk before it got to my turn and ran away. They shot at me but missed the target.”

The abduction is the first reported in the area since police and other security agencies began combining ground patrols with drone surveillance in nearby forests.

Efforts to reach the Imo State Police Command for confirmation were unsuccessful at the time of filing this report. (The Sun)