Akure, the Ondo state capital, went into a frenzy on Tuesday as hordes of women stormed the streets to protest the alleged kidnap of nine surveyors at Ilu Abo community in Akure North Local Government Area of the state.
The abducted surveyors, according to reports, were said to have been abducted by some yet-to-be-identified gunmen who allegedly attacked them while working in a forest in the local government.
Accord to a report by Punch newspaper, suspected bandits reportedly besieged four communities in Akure North Local Government Area of Ondo State in the wee hours of Saturday, causing pandemonium.
The affected communities are: Aba Alajido, Aba Sunday, Aba Pastor, and Ademekun.
The newspaper also reported that scores of people living in the communities were killed in the early morning raid.
On Tuesday, women protesters, brandishing leaves, converged on the Ijemikin area of the state capital and walked to the state government secretariat in Alagbaka, chanting solidarity songs to express their dissatisfaction over the spiraling insecurity in the state.
A protester who identified herself as Mrs. Oluwatoyin Arowosafe, who told journalists during the protest that some of them were relatives of the kidnapped surveyors. She informed that the kidnappers had contacted the families and demanded N100million ransom in lieu of their freedom.
“We want to call on Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa to come to our rescue,” Mrs. Oluwatoyin Arowosafe said. “Our men have been kidnapped since last week Tuesday, and the kidnappers have been demanding N100 million to release them, which we could not afford.”
The Special Adviser on Union Matters and Special Duties to Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa, Mr Bola Taiwo, who addressed the protesters on behalf of his principal, blamed the nine kidnapped surveyors for going to the site without security operatives.
He blamed them for collecting huge amounts of money from their client and failing to spend money on their security.
“We shall speak with your leaders if they have reported the incident to the police,” Taiwo said. “If they have not reported to the police, they should go there. That’s when the government would act. Nowadays, any surveyors going to site should go with police escorts, if they do, no gunmen would abduct them. No one can kidnap anyone without internal collaborators.
“You shall now go back to Ilu-Abo and cry out that those who abducted the surveyors should release them. No Hausa or Fulani man can come to Ilu-Abo and kidnap with the convenience of one of the natives. It is your people that kidnapped the nine surveyors. We will meet with your leaders and discuss with them.”
The state command of the Nigeria Police Force has yet to respond to the reported kidnap as at the time of this report.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, Mrs Funmilayo Odunlami, according to Punch, was unreachable on phone.