Three persons kidnapped on New Year’s eve regain freedom in Kwara

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5 years ago

Three indigenes of Obbo-Aiyegunle community in the Ekiti local government area of Kwara State kidnapped four days ago by suspected herdsmen have regained their freedom.

The kidnap victims, who were reportedly abducted by suspected herders on New Year’s eve along Osi-Obbo-Aiyegunle, were said to be travelling to their country home for the new year celebrations.

Speaking with the Tribune Online on Saturday, former chairman of the local government and an indigene of the town, Otunba Ezekiel Gbadeyan said, “it took frantic efforts of the local hunters to secure the release of the abducted people.”

Confirming the news of their release, Otunba Gbadeyan said the abductors allegedly dumped their victims in the bush in Eda community of Ekiti State.

While he did not state whether the community paid ransom or not for the release of the victims, he said, “Eda community is about six kilometres to Obbo-Aiyegunle”.

Recall that the kidnappers had allegedly demanded a ransom of N50million from the family members for the release of their victims.

The kidnapped persons include a lady and two men, while the fourth person in the same vehicle with the victims escaped with serious injuries.

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Speaking with our reporter on phone, Otunba Gbadeyan, said the victims who were occupants of the same vehicle were travelling to their country home for the New Year celebrations.

Otunba Gbadeyan added that kidnapping has been a recurrent decimal in the area due to the deplorable state of the road linking Osi and Obbo-Aiyegunle.

He added that the “incident was the fourth in the last few weeks but local hunters have always been rising up to the occasion of preventing innocent souls from been kidnapped. The hunters have been our saving grace from the menace of these herders in the area. This said one occurred in the daytime.

“These pathetic occurrences are due to the non-motorable state of our road as vehicles cannot move freely. Therefore, we are appealing to the state government to assist us in rehabilitating the road that links the two communities.

“Also, the road that links Obbo-Aiyegunle in Kwara State to Ekiti State is also awful. We use this medium to urge the authorities concerned to come to our rescue.”