Security Officials Rescue Ondo Regent, Four Others

After two weeks in captivity, the regent of  the university town of Akungba-Akoko  in Akoko South West Local Government Area  of  Ondo  State,  Princess Oluwatoyin Omosowon, was early  Tuesday  rescued with other four persons including a member of the  National Youths Service Corps (NYSC) who were kidnapped.

The rescued persons were an Indian,  Alex John, and his police orderly, Obute Sunday, the driver that drove the university’s car that took the regent,   Aliu Jelili and an NYSC member, Azubuike Ijeoma.
The regent and others were rescued by combined operation of the military, Department of the State Security (DSS) and the police.

Three suspects were arrested during the operation said to have taken several days and involving several strategies.

However,   one of the suspects said to be the leader of the kidnappers’ gang, who is simply called Federal,  was killed when he turned violent and attempted to disarm a soldier.

The rescued victims were presented to   the state Governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko at the Government House,  Alagbaka  by the leadership of the three security agencies that participated in the operation.

The Director of DSS for the Ondo State Command, Mr. Christian Onyebuchi  Ojobor,  said the victims were  kidnapped from different locations and at different times were rescued  from Ofosun forest in  local government area of the state with boundary with Edo State.

The  regent was kidnapped on Tuesday, June 2 on his way  to Akure to attend the inaugural lecture delivered by the Vice-Chancellor of the Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko , Prof. Igbekele Ajibefun along  Ikare-Owo Road with the driver of the  university’s car that was to take him to the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA).

The corps member told journalists that she was kidnapped on her way to Lagos from NYSC Orientation camp.

The corps member said she was kidnapped when she boarded a vehicle along the road on her way to Lagos.

Commenting on the incident, Mimiko commended the efforts of the rescue team, stating that the operation had demonstrated the synergy among the security agencies in the state.

The governor also commended Akungba community leaders for their intervention while the regent and others were in captivity.

He said if not for the efforts of the community leaders, the town would have engulfed in crisis as accusing fingers were being put at somebody.

Mimiko, who said the state already have law against kidnapping, said the suspects would be made to face the full wrath of the law.

Narrating her ordeal in captivity, the regent said they were maltreated in the forest and that she embarked on fasting and prayer despite being an ulcer patient.

In related development, reprieve came the way of the Catholic Church’s family in Ekiti State Tuesday as a priest of the Catholic  diocese of Ekiti, Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Akingbade, was released from the kidnappers’ den.

The man of God was  kidnapped by three gunmen in Ido-Ekiti, last week Tuesday and taken to unknown destination.

Confirming the report  to journalists in Ado Ekiti, the Catholic Bishop of the diocese, Most. Rev. Felix Ajakaye, said no ransom was paid before the priest was released but confirmed that the abductors demanded N200million as ransom which he said was declined.

Fr. Akingbade is the  Parish Priest of St. Benedict’s Catholic Church, Ido Ekiti and Assistant Director of the Legal Department of the Diocese’s Justice Development and Peace Initiative (JDPI).

He said: “This morning, we thank God, we saw him, God did it and I thank everybody for their prayers because we rely on God, we believe in God and God can do anything.

“But we told our people not to abuse the abductors because we wouldn’t want the abductors to be cursed and we want things to change for the better in our state, the state of honour, and  Nigeria as a whole.
What happened to Fr. Akingbade happened to every member of the church, so all over the world people were praying.

“They were even threatening that they would kill him and I told them that on the day he was ordained, he had sacrificed himself.  But we were still negotiating. They asked me how much we could afford, I said even one kobo, we cannot afford.

“We thank God, He took control, we told them we would be praying, that we would not even curse them. I told them that they should know that they are children of God, that Father should be released unconditionally, that we are not paying them.

“I pray that what has happened to Fr. Akingbade would put an end to all these nonsense in Ekiti State, particularly abduction. If a Catholic priest could be abducted in his room, then nobody is safe.”
He said the security operatives must be well equipped to be able to tackle the various security challenges confronting the country.

Unconfirmed reports said that local hunters rescued the priest, but the bishop said he was not aware of that. He, however, appreciated security operatives in the state for their efforts while searching for the priest.

When THISDAY visited the bishop’s residence on Tuesday, sympathisers; including the pupils of St. Joseph’s Nursery Primary School, led by their teachers and Rev.Srs were seen jubilating.

Meanwhile, the Ekiti State Police Command on Tuesday warned dealers in Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) against selling gas or gas cylinders to persons suspected to be of shady characters.

The state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Etop James gave the warning in Ado-Ekiti as a guest speaker at the opening of a One-Day sensitisation workshop organised by Standard Organization of Nigeria, (SON) for retailers of gas and gas cylinders in the state.

Represented by an Assistant Commissioner of Police, (ACP), Mr. Godwin Osochukwu, the police boss said the warning had become necessary in view of rising cases of terrorism and kidnapping in parts of the country in recent times.

He said people of questionable characters fronting for terrorists or other criminals are known to be devising means of staying afloat in their nefarious businesses by playing on the intelligence of unsuspecting members of the public to perpetrate their acts.

Declaring the Workshop open, the State Director of Small and Medium Scale Industries in the State Ministry of Commerce, Mr. Ayo Ilesanmi expressed the readiness of the State government in partnering with individuals and agencies whose duties are to protect people’s lives and property