Gunmen kidnap three more women as Insecurity get worse in Ekiti

The security situation in Ekiti State took a turn for the worse yesterday with the abduction of three women by unknown gunmen.

The abductions took place just as the Ekiti State Governor, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, wrote a letter to the Inspector-General of Police, Solomon Arase, asking for his intervention.

The three women were waylaid and kidnapped in broad daylight with one of their husbands and children along Igbole-Osi Road in Ido/Osi Local Government Area of the state but the husbands were later released.

The road leads to Ido Ekiti which has become notorious for kidnapping in the last two weeks.

The victims were said to be travelling in a Toyota RAV 4 Sport Utility Vehicle to Ibadan, the Oyo State capital for a wedding.

Sources revealed that the husband and children were later released while the women were taken away after their mobile phones and other valuables were seized by their captors.

The cries of the man and children who were wailing uncontrollably at the scene of the incident were said to have attracted other passersby who only learnt of the incident after the gunmen had fled the scene with their victims.

The whereabouts of the kidnapped women remained unknown while contact was yet to be established with their families at press time.

The State Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Alberto Adeyemi, confirmed the incident when contacted on the phone.

Adeyemi said: “The Divisional Police Officer in Ido called in today to give the report about the kidnapped women. We have already launched investigation into the case but I can’t speak about it.”

About seven persons, including a former Chief Medical Director of Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital, Dr Patrick Adegun, his wife, Kikelomo, a senior nurse at the Federal Teaching Hospital Ido Ekiti, Mrs Margaret Aladenika and a lecturer of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, had been kidnapped in the last two weeks in the state.

In Fayose’s letter dated May 15, 2015 and personally signed by the governor, he said the IG’s special intervention would help in allaying the fears of the people of the state following cases of abductions of innocent people.

Copies of the letter, which was sent to be delivered by road to the IG in Abuja, were also sent to other security chiefs.

The letter reads in part: “It is with great concern that I am appealing to you to help in our quest for a lasting solution to the spate of kidnappings and abductions in our dear state. The development has created fear in the minds of our people and no meaningful development can take place under

such atmosphere.

“As a responsible government, we are taking all necessary steps to curtail and put an end to these dastardly acts, and we believe a special attention from your office on the matter to our state would no

doubt, lead to finding a quick solution to the problem.”

There have been instances of police authorities paying special attention to any part of the country whenever the need arises.

Only recently, Arase sent a special team of policemen to Edo State to help in curbing the outbreak of cult war among various groups in the state. The intervention has paid off, with no new case of gang war being reported in the last few days.