Residents live in fear as Ekiti bad roads turn killer kidnappers’ havens

Two separate attacks by gunmen in Ekiti State have heightened fears with residents lamenting that the state’s bad roads are now kidnappers’ dens, Dayo Oyewo and Abiodun Nejo write

At the time the feeling in Ekiti State was that the security situation had improved as the erstwhile kidnap cases and gunmen attacks were fast becoming a thing of the past, the criminals struck on Monday in two different locations.

The gunmen that operated at Oke-Ako – Ipao Road in the Northern Senatorial District shot dead two traditional rulers and threw their communities, the traditional institution, and indeed Ekiti State into mourning.

The slain traditional rulers were the Onimojo of Imojo Ekiti in the Oye Local Government area, Oba Olatunde Olusola, and the Elesun of Esun Ekiti in the Ikole Local Government area, Oba Babatunde Ogunsakin, while the Alara of Ara Ekiti in the Ikole Council area, Oba Adebayo Fatoba, escaped being kidnapped or abducted.

The gunmen that struck along Emure – Eporo Road in the Southern Senatorial District and hijacked a school bus, abducted no fewer than five school children, three teachers and the driver put many families in pain and agony.

These two incidents happened only a day after a ghastly motor accident involving the bus of a church at Ise Ekiti claimed the lives of three female church members with no fewer than 10 others injured.

Fear enveloped the state on Tuesday as residents thought the two tragic incidents marked the return of deadly kidnappers in the state.

  Residents of the state lamented that the poor state of roads made the two incidents possible. According to them, the two traditional rulers were killed on Oke-Ako – Ipao Road, which had been in a bad state for a long time.

They called on the state and federal governments to address the security concerns in the state following the incident that led to the killings of kidnappings that occurred on Monday.

The residents also told The PUNCH that the perpetrators of the act were taking advantage of the deplorable state of the roads in the state.

Speaking to one of our correspondents on Tuesday, a resident of the state, Timothy Agboola, said most of the victims of the abduction were being ambushed at the bad portion of the roads in the state.

Agboola added that the affected roads included both the state and federal roads.

He said, “The spate of bad roads in Ekiti State is alarming. Almost all the roads are in terrible condition and these are roads linking one town to another. I am talking about both the state and federal roads.”

“These are the causes of the two incidents that happened on Monday and the ones that had happened in the past. The victims of the Monday incident were attacked while slowing down on the bad portions of the roads. Also, there are too many bumps on most of the roads in the state. These need to be promptly addressed as part of efforts to curb the activities of these criminals in our dear state. We learnt that the school bus slowed when it got to one of the bad spots when the gunmen shot its tyres,”

Meanwhile, parents of the school children have besieged Emure community as well as the scene where the incident happened.

A school teacher who identified himself simply as Osanyilusi, while confirming the development to our correspondent also revealed that the wife of his colleague was among the kidnapped victims.

He said, “The parents of the school children have rushed down to Emure and some of them have visited the scene of the incident. Two members of a family were also part of the kidnapped victims. One of them is the wife of my colleague. The firstborn of the wife’s family was also part of the kidnapped staff of the school.”

The principal of the secondary section of the school, Boje Olanireti, said the students were over 25 on the bus when the incident happened, adding that the gunmen kidnapped five students and all four adult staff.

Meanwhile,  residents of the state on Tuesday mourned monarchs who were killed by the gunmen.

The mood was gloomy at Imojo Ekiti as natives mourned the passage of the traditional ruler.

The Second-in-Command to the Onimojo, the Elejira of Imojo, Chief Ayodele Dada, described the killing of the monarch as painful, saying the late traditional ruler initiated several developmental projects in the community.

Dada, who lamented frequent kidnapping activities in the area in the last few months, called on the government to double its efforts in providing security for the people of the state.

The traditional chief said, “We will sorely miss the late Kabiyesi. But in his memory, we appeal to the state government to complete the Imojo palace project which he began so that we can name it after him to immortalize him”.

The governor promised to assist the bereaved family and assist Imojo community in completing the construction of the ongoing palace in the community.

Esun community wore sober looks on Tuesday following the death of their traditional ruler.

The indigenes, who spoke on the death of their monarchs, lamented over the situation and described it as a great loss to the two communities.

Already at the palace of Esun Ekiti, they have cut the trees to signify the passage of the monarch with red flags at some places while some people sat in groups singing dirges on the Elesun’s transition.

For the schoolchildren at the Apostolic Faith Nursery and Primary School, Emure Ekiti, who were abducted on Monday evening on their way home after closing, the governor, Mr Biodun Oyebanji had assured them that they would be rescued.

The Special Adviser to the governor on Media, Yinka Oyebode had in a statement on Tuesday confirmed that six school children, three teachers, and the school bus driver were kidnapped on Monday evening.

Meanwhile, a family source, who preferred anonymity, said on Tuesday that the kidnappers had contacted a parent demanding a ransom of N10m per victim.

Meanwhile, the Aremo of Emure Kingdom, Chief Clement Ogunyemi Akinola, who went in the company of the Emure Local Government chairman and the officials representing Ekiti State Government to pay a visit to the parents of the kidnapped persons at Eporo, said, “The parents are appealing to the government to assist in the release of their children.

He said, ‘’The schoolchildren are very young, there is a nine-year old there, one can imagine the condition the children will be in, one can imagine the state of mind of the parents, the entire Emure community, and the Eporo people. There is tension, very high tension.”

The Chairman of the Joint Security Committee of Ise, Emure and Ikere, Elder Tunji Falana, corroborated Akinola, saying, “The borders are too porous. We have been appealing to the government to establish police posts and army checkpoints at the borders.

“This is not the first time kidnappers struck there. The place is porous. But on this matter, the Kabiyesi, the Elemure of Emure Ekiti, Oba Emmanuel Adebayo, a former commissioner of Police, is working round the clock to ensure the release of the abductees”.

The State Chairman of  the Social Democratic Party, Dr Dele Ekunola, who said that the attack on and killing of traditional rulers was an insult, said, “I score the state government low on security. The very much revered stool in Ekiti State is the traditional rulers.

“Look at the way they disgraced the traditional institution, look at the way they put them in a state of coma, killing an oba is not easy, they killed a whole town, they killed a whole district, they killed a whole local government, they killed a state, they tampered with our state.

“This type of insult should not have come to Ekiti at all? The governor is supposed to wake up, he has been insulted too. It shows anything can happen to anybody.

“Kidnappers killed two kings, they also kidnapped school children along Emure –Eporo Road. The governor himself should be very careful, and equip himself and the security agencies.

“The governor should wake up, be the chief security, and let the security agencies in the state have what they need to operate effectively and efficiently. We know where we have security threats in the state, especially in the northern parts of the state. The area should have been taken care of before now,” Ekunola said.

The Yoruba Leaders of Thought also condemned the murder of two traditional rulers in Ekiti by armed bandits and described as unacceptable the abduction of school children by kidnappers at Emure.

The elders, in a statement by the National Secretary of the group, Mr Bayo Aina, who urged security agents to arrest abductors and rescue the abducted children with immediate effect, said, “The killing of the traditional rulers has further revealed that no one is safe in the state”.

While commiserating with the state governor, Mr Biodun Oyebanji, on the unfortunate incidents, the group under the leadership of the sage, Alhaji Tajudeen Olusi, said, “Security agents must be up and doing to assure citizens of the safety of their lives and properties”.

Also speaking, the Public Relations Officer for Ekamefa in Ajoni Local Council Development Area, Abayomi Oluwafemi, condemned the attacks on Monday on the traditional institution on school children and the killing of two kings.

Oluwafemi, who said that the Ekamefa area was volatile, said, “Government should provide enough Close Circuit Television cameras in the dangerous areas and as well monitor them well.

The community spokesperson said that in view of the incessant security breach occasioned by the gunmen attacks, “everybody should also go for traditional defence, everything is not about anointing oil”.

The Speaker of the Ekiti State House of Assembly, Adeoye Aribasoye, expressed shock at the killing of two monarchs and abduction of some school children within the state.