Kidnapped Passengers Escape from Kidnappers Custody, Relocate to Unknown Destinations
Calls have gone to the Nigeria Government to put more efforts in place to curtail the tide of rising kidnapping in the country.
The call is coming up against the backdrop of an incident in which all passengers traveling from Benin to Abuja were kidnapped.
The passengers, about 13 in number, were onboard Big Joe transport on July, 3, 2024, commuting from Benin to Abuja, when the kidnappers attacked the bus at Okene.
All passengers on board were kidnapped. Some of the passengers on board, according to reliable sources, include Rita I, Osas Eromosele and Alegieuno Okaineme Juliana, among others.
It was gathered that the kidnappers released some of the kidnapped victims after receiving an undisclosed ransom, but few of the passengers escaped from the kidnappers’ custody, including one Alegieuno Okaineme Juliana.
The kidnappers, according to the released victims, masked up through out the period they were in their custody, and they also promised to locate those that escaped.
The kidnappers was said to have gotten the details of few of the passengers that escaped from the vehicle, and vowed to trace and kidnap them again, and as well punish them.
Findings have however shown that some of the passengers that escaped from the kidnappers custody have run to unknown destinations, as they are no longer in their earlier place of residence for fear of being kidnapped again by the kidnappers.
Recalled on Monday, January 29, gunmen killed two Ekiti monarchs-the Onimojo of Imojo, Oba Olatunde Olusola, and the Elesun of Esun Ekiti, Oba Babatunde Ogunsakin, while the Alara of Ara Ekiti, Oba Adebayo Fatoba, narrowly escaped.
The traditional rulers were returning from a security meeting in Kogi State when their vehicles ran into the suspected kidnappers who were operating on the highway between Ipao and Oke Ako in the Ikole Local Government Area of Ekiti State.
On the same day, five pupils of Apostolic Faith Group of Schools, Emure Ekiti, and four staff members were abducted by gunmen.
The incident occurred when the school bus conveying 25 pupils home after school hours was waylaid by the gunmen in the Emure community in Ekiti State. They regained freedom in the early hours of Sunday.
In view of these incessant kidnapping incidents, many Nigerians have called on the Nigeria Government, especially the security operatives, to work hard and curtains the spate of kidnaping, not just in Kogi and its environ, but across the country.
