Kidnappers who abducted Ekiti monarch demand N20m ransom fee for his safe release

KIDNAPPERS who recently abducted the Obadu of Ilemeso Ekiti Oba David Oyewumi have demanded a ransom fee of N20m ($52,500) from his family if they want the traditional ruler returned to them unharmed.

On April 15, Oba Oyewumi was abducted by the gunmen who invaded his palace in Ilemeso Ekiti in Oye Local Government Area of Ekiti State at around 9pm. Over the weekend, his abductors contacted the family and demanded the ransom as a condition for his safe return to his domain.

One palace source said: “We have been contacted by those who took kabiyesi who called us around 7 pm on Saturday and demanded that we pay N20m for the king to be released. We are really worried by this demand but the family is not taking anything to chance, as we are taking further steps to ensure that kabiyesi is released alive as soon as possible.”

Sunday Abutu, a spokesman for the Ekiti State Police Command, said the police were not aware of the ransom demand. He, however, said that the police and other security agencies were making frantic efforts to rescue the oba from captivity safely.

Mr Abutu said:“We are taking all security measures to ensure that we rescue the oba, we are not resting at all. We are working with other sister agencies in this regard and also working on intelligence we have at our disposal.

“The police want to work more to prevent this kind of crime and we are relying on information from the members of the public. We work more on the information we find to be veracious.

He appealed to members of the public to help with valuable information on the matter, promising that the police will protect the identities of such informants. This latest attack was the second such incident in the state within the last three weeks as one other monarch recently had his official car riddled with bullets by gunmen believed to be kidnappers but was lucky to escape being kidnapped, although he sustained gunshot wounds.