The Commander, Ekiti State Amotekun Corps, Brig. Gen. Olu Adewa (retd), said the security agencies were tracking the kidnappers of three persons along the Emure-Eporo Road in the Emure Ekiti council area to arrest them and set their captives free.
PUNCH Metro gathered that the kidnappers on Saturday evening attacked four persons in the incident, shot one person dead and whisked the remaining three to an unknown destination in the expansive forest.
Adewa told our correspondent on Tuesday, “We are working on the kidnap incident. We are trailing them (kidnappers) based on tracking. Our people – army, police, Amotekun, Agro Marshal, anti-grazing and hunters – are combing the bush. Also, Amotekun Corps and army from the Ondo State area are involved in the search.”
The Amotekun commander, who said the kidnappers lived among the people, called on the public to give information that could lead to their arrest before they committed the crimes.
He said, “They (criminals) live among the people. Our people should embrace the idea of ‘see something, say something’. They are not from the sky.”
The Amotekun boss, who said technology was being used to track them through their devices by operatives of the Department of State Service, said, “Our operatives would use information gathered in the search effort.”
Meanwhile, the Emure Local Government Chairman, Ekiti State, Tosin Adedayo, said the kidnappers were insisting on N30m ransom for the release of the three kidnapped persons.
The council chairman told PUNCH Metro in a telephone interview on Tuesday, “The kidnappers contacted the family and requested N30m ransom.
As of Monday evening, the kidnappers still insisted on N30m. I have not been informed of the kidnappers’ call today (Tuesday)”.
Recall that gunmen on January 29 along the same route kidnapped nine persons comprising five school children, three female teachers and a driver in their school bus.
Adedayo, who expressed hope that the victims would be rescued, said that the security agencies, including men of the Nigerian Army, police, Amotekun corps and vigilantes, were not relenting in their efforts since Saturday when the incident occurred.
“Men of the Rapid Response Squad of the Nigeria Police also came to the area for the search effort. I give the security agencies kudos. They have been strategising and making efforts, combing the expansive bush.”
The council chairman, however, made a case for a military checkpoint on the Emure-Eporo Road, saying such would send away kidnappers from the area and ensure sanity on the road.
