Gunmen Ambush Ex-Power Minister Adelabu’s Sister and 12-Year-Old Twin Sons in Daring Ibadan Morning School Run Kidnapping

The escalating security crisis in Oyo State has breached the heart of the state capital, with armed gunmen executing a terrifying morning ambush in Ibadan to abduct the younger sister of the immediate past Minister of Power and leading All… Progressives Congress (APC) 2027 governorship aspirant, Chief Adebayo Adelabu, alongside her 12-year-old twin sons.

The high-profile assault took place at approximately 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday, June 3, 2026, in the Elewura area of Challenge, a bustling commercial and residential hub in the Ibadan South-West Local Government Area. The victim, Mrs. Olaide Busayo Adegoke John-Paul, aged 43, was navigating the morning traffic grid in her wine-colored Hyundai Sonata to drop her twin boys, Peter and Paul, at school when her vehicle was violently cut off by a silver Toyota Camry carrying a syndicate of armed men.

According to terrified eyewitnesses who called into a live radio program shortly after the encounter, the operation was executed with alarming tactical speed. When Mrs. John-Paul locked her car doors in a desperate attempt to execute a defensive retreat, one of the gunmen stepped out, smashed her driver’s side window with a heavy object, and forced the doors open. To prevent local traders and passing motorists from interfering, the attackers fired a volley of warning shots into the air, forcing residents to flee into nearby shops before packing the mother and her 12-year-old twins into their getaway vehicle and speeding off toward the Molete flyover.

Confirming the family’s deep distress, a formal press brief was released by Adelabu’s media aide, Femi Awogboro, who verified the identities of the captives and pleaded with the public to avoid spreading unverified speculation that could compromise tactical operations.

“The family wishes to formally confirm the unfortunate kidnapping of Chief Adebayo Adelabu’s younger sister, Mrs. Olaide Busayo Adegoke John-Paul, alongside her twin sons,” the statement read. “She is the youngest of the five children of Mrs. Olufunmilayo Adelabu, and had only recently retired voluntarily from a meritorious career at the Central Bank of Nigeria and First Bank Pension Custodian. She relocated to Ibadan to care for her children while processing papers to join her husband in the United States. All relevant law enforcement agencies have been contacted, and we are confident in their capacity to execute a safe rescue.”

The timing of the urban hit has thrown a massive match into an already volatile regional environment. The abduction occurred just as the state is struggling to manage the deep structural trauma of the May 15 mass school kidnappings in the Oriire Local Government Area, which has already pushed the Oyo State chapter of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) into an indefinite strike action that has shut down public classrooms and testing centers.

Responding to the rising panic, the Oyo State Police Command unzipped its initial recovery data, confirming that a joint dragnet has been thrown over the capital’s exit corridors. State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Olayinka Ayanlade, stated that the victim’s abandoned Hyundai Sonata has been recovered and towed to the Challenge Divisional Headquarters for forensic print dusting. Assuring residents that a dedicated defensive shield is being maintained, the command noted that the Commissioner of Police has personally deployed specialized anti-kidnapping squads and intelligence-driven tracking cells into the forest borders connecting Oyo and neighboring states to safely neutralize the syndicate and bring the children home.