The rate of insecurity in Ojo Local Government Area of Lagos
State has reached an alarming stage. It
has reached a point where kidnappers now lay siege to the creeks and
around school premises to abduct pupils and other residents. The council,
bordered by creeks and nicknamed by politicians as ‘Ojo Majority,’ has
continued to record persistent kidnap cases which have thrown the communities
into confusion.
The kidnapped cases started with school pupils, compelling
the Director-General of the Office of Education Quality Assurance, OEQA in the
state, Mrs. Ronke Soyombo, to urge parents to take their children to and from
schools daily to avoid being abused sexually or kidnapped. The case started
with the kidnap of three, four-year-old children in Ago-Tapa community, Okokomaiko,
Ojo Local Government. The three—two males and one female—were identified as
Chibuzor Nwosu, Bayo Adeyemi and Barakat Saka. Chibuzor Nwosu, male, was
kidnapped on June 24; Miss Barakat Saka, female, four-year-old went missing
June 28, and Bayo Adeyemi, male, was abducted on June 28. Bayo, a pupil of
Fazil Omar Ahmadiyya, Primary School, Okokomaiko, was said to have been
kidnapped on his way home after closing hours. The kidnappers’ inability to
gain access to the school premises made them wait outside until the pupils were
leaving for their respective homes. The residents lamented that the locations
of the kidnappers have not been known nor was the pupil released. In an chat
with Vanguard, the chairman of the School Management Committee, Mr. Sheriff Adebayo,
narrated that the child and his elder brother were on their way home when the
abductors, who were in a bus, accosted them on the road and gave the elder
brother a N100 note, to buy candy and
biscuits. The victim’s elder brother demanded to go on the errand with
the victim, but they (kidnappers) ordered him to leave his brother behind. On
his return, he added that the child discovered the bus was leaving the scene
“and because he is a child, rather than raise alarm, he ran home to alert the
mother and before they arrived the kidnappers had disappeared.” After this over
three cases of child abduction in schools were foiled by the residents in the
council. Aside this, the Former Commissioner for Rural Development, Mr.
Cornelius Ojelabi, revealed at the Townhall meeting organized by the state
government in Badagry, that his grandson and about five others were kidnapped
by unknown gunmen, lamenting “their whereabouts have not been known.” Last
Sunday, Ojelabi further disclosed that two persons were also kidnapped in the
council within one week in July, 2016. His words, “The government needs to
really focus on how the spate of kidnappings can be nipped in the bud in Lagos
State. The issue of kidnapping is becoming alarming. Between Monday and
Saturday, we recorded two others. The two persons kidnapped were above
30-years-old. “This is within a week. It is sad. We are ready to partner with
the government to tackle this. Even as I sympathize with the community for the
ugly incident but we all must realize that the issue of security is a
collective responsibility. Wherever there is insecurity, the commercial
activities in that corridor will be halted. There is need for us to police the
creeks. That is where they have the wherewihal to attack the communities,” he
added. As the act continued unchecked, it snowballed into the kidnap of
prominent persons within the council, forcing many to raise concerns over the
state of the creek that borders the council on the North. Traditional ruler
abducted First among them was the kidnap of the Oniba of Iba Town, Oba Yushau
Oseni on Saturday night from his palace when he was about taking his bath.
While whisking away the monarch, who was in shorts, away from his palace, the
over 15 gunmen who had stormed the community two hours before the abduction,
shot five persons including the Oba’s wife. Three of the victims have died
including a 25-year-old artisan, Riliwan Rasak, the palace guard, Sunday
Okanlawon and a-yet-to-be-identified commercial motorcycle operator. Mrs.
Nofisat Oseni, wife of the Monarch narrated the incident which could be seen in
her gloomy eyes saying “four of the gunmen took my husband through the
backdoor, the other two left through the main gate of the palace. He was
whisked away through the Iye-Egbe creek. Police identify kidnappers The State
Police Public Relation Officer, PPRO,
Dolapo Badmos, said,”the kidnappers are militants and it was because
pipeline vandalism had been curtailed, they resortedsd to kidnapping. She said:
“We have been arresting kidnappers and this will not be different. The command
is working with the Ogun police command to ensure that the issue of kidnapping
is nipped in the bud in both states.” She added that, the number of casualties
they were aware of was one-the security man. “There is no report of the Okada
man that was shot dead,” he said.
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