Some residents of Ondo State on Tuesday staged a mass protest in Akure the state capital over the abduction of nine surveyors who were returning from site in Akure North Local Government Area.
This came a day after it was reported that four communities in Akure North Local Government Area of the state were attacked by some armed men suspected to be bandits leading to the death of over 20 people.
Although the state government denied the attack, investigation and eyewitness accounts revealed that tragedy truly occurred while the affected communities are Aba Alajido, Aba Sunday, Aba Pastor and Ademekun Communities in the Akure North LG.
In the latest incident, the protesters who shot at the gate of the Governor’s office in Alagbaka Akure, carried placards with various inscriptions, chanting solidarity songs and calling for the release of the victims.
Precisely, they disclosed that the surveyors were abducted by some gunmen while on site at Ilu-Abo on Tuesday last week.
The protesters who earlier converged on Ijemikin Street in Akure, at the residence of the Ejeminkin of Akure, High Chief Oluwole Omotayo in the state capital as early as 9am, condemned the surge in the rate of kidnapping in the state in the recent time.
They lamented that the nine surveyors were working on the site when the armed men suddenly emerged from the bush and ordered them away to an unknown destination.
Marching from Ijemikin to the Governor’s Office, the protesters, who were mostly women, called on Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa to take quick and decisive actions in checking activities of kidnappers, killer herdsmen and other criminals who have penetrated the communities in the state.
But speaking on behalf of the governor, the Special Adviser (Union Matters and Special Duties) Bola Taiwo, blamed the nine kidnapped surveyors for going to the site without security operatives.
Particularly, he blamed them for collecting huge money from their client and failing to spend money on their security.
Taiwo alleged that the people were the perpetrators of the abduction of the nine surveyors.
He said: “We shall speak with your leaders if they have reported the incident to the police. If they have not reported to the police, they should go there. That’s when 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 connivance of one of the natives. It is your people that kidnapped the nine surveyors. We will meet with your leaders and discuss with them.”
When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in the state, Funmilayo Odunlami-Omisanya was not reachable as of the time of filing this report.
