Victims lament kidnappers’ reign along Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, call for intervention

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After spending three days in the kidnappers’ den, Bamipe Ojediran lamented the continued operation of the dreaded demon kidnapping gang along the Lagos-Ibadan expressway.

Mr Ojediran, who is one of the latest victims of kidnapping on the Ogun State section of the expressway, has called on the authorities to intervene immediately by increasing security on the highway.

He was abducted at around 5:40pm on November 12 along with his wife Bora and son Jedidiah. The Guardian reported on the same day that the kidnappers also abducted one Ojo Dauda and one Matthew Akanbe in a Nissan Coastal Bus with REG number Lagos LND 395 YC.

Narrating his ordeal yesterday, Ojediran, who is recovering from the assault, said he left Ibadan for Lagos at 4.30pm on the fateful day, and the vehicle returned after seven minutes from the Foursquare camp. He added that he had witnessed the attack and that there had also been an attempt. To turn back.

He said: “While I was returning, a car from Itami rammed into my car, which had a black Toyota Camry muzzle fitted with REG No. Lagos LSD 937 GC, next to it, immobilizing it. . We tried to escape, but the kidnappers caught up with us. They left my two young sons on the highway and took my wife, eldest son, and me into the bush. I have my three sons sitting in the back seat of the car, and after the incident, my wife got out first and then my oldest son got out. I took him out, but the other two… My son was literally unconscious. So I stood there trying to resuscitate them, but the youngest, 2 years old, was already bleeding.

Eventually they came back to life and I got them out of the car. By then, the kidnappers had run to my side and marched me into the bushes with my two youngest sons. I had a bleeding 2 year old and I was holding a 9 year old and after walking through the bushes they realized the kids were slowing me down. They said I should drop them off. But I insisted I wasn’t going to drop them and they put me back on the road and told me to drop them on the road. And I thought it would be better to drop them on the road. ”

Ojediran added: “They took me back into the bush and I was still celebrating the safety of my family. I found out that the kidnappers were also following them and eventually caught up with them.

“My wife told me that once she got close, she raised her gun and tried to fire. At that point, she got up and they eventually took her and our oldest son back into the bush where we were. I also met two people in the bush. They were the drivers of the vehicle that had earlier transported some people to the Foursquare camp and the passengers had alighted and were on their way back to Lagos when they were kidnapped. There were only two people on the bus.”

He said his wife suffered broken bones and bruises as a result of the incident. He said the kidnappers also beat two other people and worked with their families to demand ransom.

Explaining how the children escaped, he said: “After paying the ransom and gaining freedom on Tuesday, I asked my children how they got home and they said they just went to bed when I dropped them off. When he woke up, he was still trying to understand what was happening, but he knew something terrible had happened.”

Ojediran said the group of seven kidnappers threatened to kill him if he did not receive the ransom.

He said: “It was an experience that one does not pray for one’s enemies. It was by grace that we all survived even though the ransom was paid. They put us on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. We kept them under a tree for three days, about 100 meters from the highway along the Axis. During that time, there was no police presence.” He learned that kidnappings occur almost every Sunday along the Axis. He explained that this was several days after his release.

When contacted yesterday, the spokesperson of the Ogun State Police Command, Superintendent Omolola Odutola, confirmed the incident. She said the kidnappers emerged from nearby bushes and opened fire sporadically, taking the victims hostage at Bamboo Pindown in Lagos on their way from Ibadan.

However, Mr Odutola said the victims were released on Tuesday, November 14 and reunited with their respective families.

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Source: guardian.ng