Headline
Gunmen kidnap ex-FCE provost, driver in Ogun
Suspected gunmen on Tuesday abducted Dr. Ayodele Ajayi, the immediate-past Provost of the Federal College of Education (FCE), Osiele near Abeokuta in the Odeda Local Government Area (LGA) of Ogun.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) learnt that Ajayi was abducted with his wife and driver after 7 p.m. at Ikija village in the Olodo axis of the Abeokuta-Ibadan road.
It was further gathered that Ajayi’s wife was later released by the abductors, while he and his driver were taken away.
A resident of the area, who asked for anonymity, told NAN the gunmen came out of the bush to attack Ajayi and other motorists along the road.
He added that the gunmen after shooting sporadically into the air blocked the road and whisked their victims away.
The source who lamented the increasing rate of abduction in the area claimed that no fewer than five persons have been kidnapped in the last one week in the area.
“Just yesterday (Monday), the gunmen abducted five persons, but two out of them were later released.
“Also, last month, three people were killed. Among those who were killed was a popular businessman who operated a big farm along the axis.
“The Olu of Odeda, Oba David Olorunisola, was almost kidnapped this week while his driver was shot and is still receiving treatment at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) in Abeokuta.
“We need help, this is getting too much. Our people are no longer safe, we need government’s intervention and the security agencies to wake up to their responsibilities,” he said.
When contacted, SP Omolola Odutola, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) at the Police Command in Abeokuta, confirmed the incident, saying they and other security operatives were on the abductors’ trail.
She added that they received a distress call and a direct message from a staff of FCE Osiele stating that Ajayi was kidnapped.
Odutola assured that the victims would be rescued as the Commissioner of Police, CP Alamutu Abiodun, has ordered a joint operation of all security agencies.
”He has asked them all to start combing the bush and all the surrounding areas in a bid to find them.
“But there is no cause for more panic. The CP has deployed operational teams and detectives of the Ogun Police Command to go after the yet-to-be-identified gunmen.
“They will be rescued as assured by the CP because all the security agencies are on a joint operation combing the bush.
”Several operatives of the Police, as well as those of Amotekun, vigilance groups and hunters have been mobilised into the forest on strict order to apprehend the gunmen and rescue the victims alive,” Odutola said.
The Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, SAN has warned against obstructing the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) from carrying out its lawful duty .
Fagbemi’s warning is contained in a statement in Abuja.
“This is a matter of very grave concern, it is now beyond doubt that the EFCC is given power by the law to invite any person of interest to interact with them in the course of their investigations into any matter, regardless of status.
“Therefore, the least that we can all do when invited, is not to put any obstruction in the way of EFCC, but to honourably answer their invitation.
“A situation where public officials who are themselves subject of protection by law enforcement agents will set up a stratagem of obstruction to the civil and commendable efforts of the EFCC to perform its duty is to say the least, insufferably disquieting’’.
He added that running away from the law will not resolve issues at stake but only exacerbate them.
“Nigeria has a vibrant judicial system that is capable of protecting everyone who follows the rule of law in seeking protection.
“I therefore encourage anyone who has been invited by the EFCC or any other agency to immediately toe the path of decency and civility by honouring such invitation instead of embarking on a temporising self-help and escapism.
“This can only put our country in bad light before the rest of the world’’.
He said institutions of state should be allowed to function effectively and efficiently.
“I stand for the rule of law and will promptly call EFCC, and indeed any other agency to order when there is an indication of any transgressions of the fundamental rights of any Nigerian by any of the agencies’’.
NAN reports that the EFCC had on Wednesday warned members of the public that it was a criminal offence to obstruct officers of the Commission from carrying out their lawful duties.
Section 38(2)(a(b) of the EFCC Establishment Act makes it an offence to prevent officers of the Commission from carrying out their lawful duties. Culprits risk a jail term of not less than five years.
The warning , the EFCC said, became necessary against the background of the increasing tendency by persons and groups under investigation by the Commission to take the laws into their hands by recruiting thugs to obstruct lawful operations of the EFCC.
On several occasions, the anti graft agency said, operatives of the Commission have had to exercise utmost restraint in the face of such provocation to avoid a breakdown of law and order.
Some unknown gunmen have kidnapped Joshua Rogers, the ChannelsTV reporter in Port-Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.
Politics Nigeria learnt that Rogers was picked up close to his residence at Rumuosi in Port Harcourt and to an unknown destination by the gunmen around 9pm on Thursday, April 11.
The reporter was driving his official ChannelsTV branded car when the hoodlums accosted, pointed a gun at him and took him away in the same vehicle.
Rogers was said to be returning from his official assignment in Government House after a trip to Andoni for a government event when the incident happened.
Already, the gunmen were said to have contacted his wife and demanded a N30million ransom for bis release.
His cameraman confirmed the incident and appealed to his abductors to set him free unconditionally.
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