25 kidnapped by gunmen in S. Nigeria

At least 25 members of a local church's choir were kidnapped by armed gunmen en route to a funeral in the Ose local government area of Nigeria's southwestern state of Ondo, local police said Saturday.

Olufunmilayo Odunlami-Omisanya, spokeswoman for the police in Ondo, confirmed the incident which occurred Friday, saying the police's anti-kidnapping squad and other tactical teams have been deployed to the area to rescue the victims and arrest all involved in the crime.

Odunlami-Omisanya said the police, working in coordination with other security agencies, had made significant strides in rescuing some of the victims. However, she declined to provide an exact number of people rescued.