Market women on Tuesday staged a public demonstration against the kidnapping of nine surveyors in Ilu-Abo, Akure North Local Government Area of Ondo State.
The surveyors were reportedly kidnapped by gunmen last week while working on a site at Ilu-Abo, the hometown of former Secretary to the Federal Government (SGF), Olu Falae.
It was gathered that the abductors demanded a ransom of N100 million for the release of the victims.
“They asked for N100 million before they could release the kidnapped men. High Chief Oluwole Omotayo, the Ejemikin of Akure, offered to pay N20 million.
“The High Chief was the one negotiating on behalf of the victims. But the kidnappers said they would not accept less than N50 million,” a source close to one of the victims said.
The market women, who marched through the major streets of Akure, the state capital, called on the state government and security agencies to expedite action on the rescue of the kidnapped men.
The protesters, led by the Iyaloja of Ijemikin Market, Oluwatoyin Arowosafe, decried the rise in the rate of kidnapping in the state in recent times.
They marched in their hundreds to the Palace of the Deji of Akure and from there to the Governor’s Office in Alagbaka.
The protesting women said kidnappers, killer-herdsmen, and other criminals had penetrated some communities in the state.
They urge Governor Aiyedatiwa to arrest the development by taking quick and decisive actions.
The special adviser to Governor Aiyedatiwa on union matters and special duties, Bola Taiwo, who addressed the protesters on behalf of his boss, blamed the victims for going to the site without security operatives.
Taiwo wondered why the surveyors would be collecting huge amounts of money from their clients and failing to spend money on their security.
“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 is 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.”
