Armed men suspected to be kidnappers have reportedly cut off the hands of three victims in their captivity before freeing them in Yagba West Local Government Area of Kogi State.

It was gathered that the latest victim, Lanlege Adewale, from Ogbe, a neighbouring town of Egbe in Yagba community, who was abducted on Saturday, had his hand chopped off by his abductors, without demanding ransom.

Two other persons, a driver and a yet-to-be-identified victim, are reportedly lying critically ill in a hospital in Egbe.

According to the locals, Adewale and four others were abducted on Saturday when their car was ambushed between Egbe and Ikoro in the Yagba community of the state.

The gunmen reportedly flagged down their car, and all the occupants of the vehicle, two men and three women, were ferried into the forest that extends to Kwara and Ekiti states at that flank of the state.

A victim was quoted by the locals as saying, ?They were whisked into the forest by standby motorcycle riders, shortly after they fell into the hands of their abductors in an ambush on the road.

?The armed men, wearing military uniforms and wielding AK-47 rifles, seized five of them. Three of them were women. They took them to a bush that links Kogi with Ekiti and Kwara states,? Olaoye Adeola, a native of Egbe, said.

A family member, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Adewale was released to go without demanding a ransom from him, after cutting his hand off in the bush, wondering how he survived with blood gushing from his hands for hours.

A source added that, besides Adewale, a victim whose identity could not be established because of his critical condition, is lying ill at a hospital in Egbe, where he was rushed to after he was released with his hands chopped off.

?Another victim, a driver who had his hands chopped off in the same circumstance a few weeks ago by the hoodlums, is still receiving treatment in the hospital at Egbe.

??The residents of Yagba communities are now living in fear because of the dangerous dimension introduced by these hoodlums,? a resident of Egbe, who simply wants to be identified as Babajide, said.

The police spokesman In the state, ASP William Aya, did not respond to calls and text messages sent to him on the incident as at the time of filing this report. (Daily Trust)