The kidnapping of nine surveyors in Ilu-Abo, Akure North Local Government Area of Ondo State, led to protests by market women on Tuesday who demanded action from the state government.
The kidnapped men were said to be working on a site as surveyors when the suspected gunmen took them last week. They, however, demanded #100 million before they could be released.
However, an Akure High Chief who was negotiating on behalf of the victims, Oluwole Omotayo, the Ejemikin of Akure, offered to pay #20 million.
When the money was ready, the kidnappers insisted on #50 million before the victims could be released.
The non-release of the victims led market women to storm the streets of Akure to demand action from the state government and security agencies.
The women in their hundreds marched through the major streets of Akure, asking the government to come to the rescue of the victims.
Led by the Iyaloja of Ijemekin Market, Oluwatoyin Arowosafe, the protesters disclosed that the surveyors were abducted by some gunmen while on-site at Ilu-Abo, the hometown of former Secretary to the Federal Government (SGF), Olu Falae, on Tuesday last week.
The protesters converged at Ijemikin in Akure, at the residence of the Ejeminkin of Akure in the state capital as early as 9 a.m condemning the surge in the rate of kidnapping in the state in recent times.
They lamented that the nine surveyors were working on the site when the armed men suddenly emerged from the bush and ordered them to go away to an unknown destination.
The protesters marched to the Deji of Akure’s palace and from there to the Governor’s Office.
The protesters called on Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa to take quick and decisive actions in checking the 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 to Governor Aiyedatiwa on (Union Matters and Special Duties) Bola Taiwo, blamed the nine kidnapped surveyors for going to the site without security operatives.
Taiwo blamed them for collecting huge amounts of money from their client and failing to spend money on their security.
He 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 the government would act.
“Nowadays, any surveyors going to the 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 without the collaboration of one of the natives.
“It is your people who kidnapped the nine surveyors. We will meet with your leaders and discuss with them.”
