Youths and community leaders from the Isin Local Government Area in Kwara State blocked the Ilorin-Omu-Aran-Kabba Highway on Saturday to protest “rising banditry and kidnappings” in their villages.
The demonstrators, who set up barricades as early as 8 a.m., paralyzed traffic on the busy highway while chanting solidarity songs and carrying placards with inscriptions such as “Enough is Enough,” “Stop Kidnapping Our People,” “We Demand Government Urgent Intervention,” and “We Are Tired of Paying Ransom Without Results.”
The demonstrators, who came from the Isanlu-Isin, Oke-Onigbin, and Edidi communities, were led by certain traditional leaders.
They noted that the constant abductions had devastated farming and economic activity, leaving communities in terror and famine.
The Odee of Isanlu-Isin, Chief Michael Ayanda, stated that kidnappers are now operating freely in the area despite the fact that millions of naira in ransom have already been paid.
“We have paid N30m for two people kidnapped earlier, yet they have not been released. Now the kidnappers are asking for more money,” Ayanda said.
He also revealed that seven vigilantes who went in search of abducted victims had remained missing, adding that one body was later recovered while 30 motorcycles belonging to the vigilantes were burnt.
Oba Ademola Julus, the Olusin of Ijara-Isin, spoke to the protesting youngsters by phone and pleaded for calm, saying that he was already in Abuja to resolve the security problem with the National Security Adviser.
Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, in a statement issued on Saturday by the Chief Press Secretary, Rafiu Ajakaye, praised the vigilantes who challenged the bandits.
