Ekiti: Tinubu, Oyebanji React As Gunmen Intercept School Bus, Abduct Pupils, Teachers, Demand N100m
About six pupils, three teachers, and school bus driver have been reportedly abducted in Ekiti State by gunmen, with their abductors demanding N100 million as ransom to release the victims.
According to a reports the kidnappers contacted the parents and relatives of the victims on Tuesday, asking for N10 million each on the 10 victims as ransom to release them.
A source told Tribune online that “They were kidnapped after their school bus was intercepted in Eporo-Ekiti, at a location that shares boundary with Ondo State, on Monday evening while returning home from school.
“I have a tenant whose wife and child were among the victims. The man received a call from the kidnappers on Tuesday afternoon and they demanded N10 million each for the 10 victims with them.
“Altogether, the gunmen said they wanted N100 million for the victims; they threatened to harm them if the parents did not raise the money quickly. There is confusion and apprehension in the land at the moment.”
The ten kidnap victims were said to be from a private nursery school in Emure, headquarters of Emure Local Government Area of the state.
The school bus conveying the pupils and the teachers was intercepted at about 5pm on Monday along Eporo-Ekiti, in the Emure area of the state.
“They were kidnapped after their school bus was intercepted in Eporo Ekiti, at a location that shares a boundary with Ondo state on Monday evening, ” the source said.
The source added that the parents called on the state and federal governments and security agencies to ensure the safe return of their children.
The incident happened the same day when gunmen shot dead two traditional rulers in Oke-Ako axis of Ikole Local Government Area of the state.
Meanwhile, the state governor, Biodun Oyebanji has urged the citizens of the state not to despair over the abduction of some school pupils and their teachers in Emure- Ekiti, assuring that efforts are on to get the children and their teachers rescued.
The Governor, who described the kidnapping of the school pupils, as callous and unacceptable, said nothing would be spared in the efforts to rescue them.
The Governor’s Special Adviser on Media, Yinka Oyebode on Tuesday in a statement said security agencies in the state are already on the trail of the abductors with a mandate to bring the pupils and their teachers back safely.
Governor Oyebanji said security is being stepped up across the state with a view to flushing out criminal elements from their hideouts.
While calling on the citizens to remain calm and vigilant, he urged them to cooperate with security agencies, by making available relevant information to the authorities.
Their kidnap came barely hours after two monarchs, the Onimojo of Imojo in Oye Local Government Area, Oba Olatunde Olusola, and the Elesun of Esun Ekiti in Ikole Local Government Area, Oba Babatunde Ogunsakin were killed by gunmen along Ipao-Oke Ako Road while their colleague, the Alara of Ara Ekiti, Oba Adebayo Fatoba in Ikole Local Government Area, managed to escape.
In his reaction to the security situation in Ekiti State, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu condemned the killing of the traditional rulers and the abduction of the occupants of the school bus in the state.
Tinubu in a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, condoled with the families and subjects of the traditional rulers, Governor Oyebanji, and the people of Ekiti State on the agonizing development.
He also directed the immediate rescue of pupils and teachers kidnapped around the Eporo-Ekiti area of the state.
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