Kwara: Stakeholders worry over persistent kidnapping in Igbominaland

A first-class traditional ruler in Kwara State, Olupo of Ajasse-Ipo, in Ifelodun Local Government Area, Oba Ismail Muhammad Yahaya, has cried out over the spate of kidnappings in Igbominaland of Kwara South senatorial district.

According to the monarch, while most residents now remain indoors at 6 pm, farmers are afraid to go to their farms as a result of fear of armed kidnappers.

Speaking at a meeting of stakeholders on the development in his palace, in a video that has gone viral, he disclosed that the majority of the traditional rulers in Ifelodun Local Government Area of the state have fled their communities for fear of being kidnapped by gunmen.

He said most of the traditional rulers have now relocated to Ilorin, the state capital and other towns to seek refuge.

“Kidnappers in the area now address letters to the monarchs, informing them of when they will strike in their domain. Iyaloja of Oko town had so far spent over two weeks in kidnappers’ captivity. The Olora of Ora town had since taken refuge in Lagos when he got information that he had become the target of kidnappers. It took us a great deal of effort to convince and bring him back home from Lagos,” he said.

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Oba Ismail appealed to the governor to rescue the entire state, especially Ifelodun, from the siege of bandits that have overwhelmed the area’s security networks, noting that the situations in Omu-Aran, Oko, Ora and Omupo, among others, have been pathetic.

“I make bold to say that traditional institutions are working hard. In fact, we have been tasking ourselves to maintain and sustain security in our domains, with first-class chiefs contributing N250,000, second-class paying N150,000 and third-class paying N100,000 and the proprietor of Thomas Adewumi College donating N10 million to assist in the efforts to secure the communities.

“There’s no way we as a people can fight this cause without government’s support because these people (bandits) in the bush go about with more sophisticated weapons,” he lamented.

The monarch passionately appealed to the state government to encourage and strengthen the local vigilantes to work.

“As a people of Igbominaland, we are not happy and we can’t hide it any longer. We appeal to the governor because we don’t wish for the repetition of what happened to late Onikoro, who was killed by bandits in his palace recently,” he said.