February 4, 2024
The pupils and the other abductees regained their freedom on Sunday morning, a government source said.
The abducted pupils of the Apostolic Faith Nursery and Primary School in Emure Ekiti, who were kidnapped on Monday by gunmen, have regained their freedom.
The pupils and the other abductees regained their freedom on Sunday morning, according to a government source.
It could be recalled that some pupils, a head teacher and a driver of Apostolic Faith School were abducted in Emure, Ekiti.
According to a video, sources had said the children were kidnapped after school hours on their way to Eporo Ekiti in their school bus.
“The pupils were kidnapped while going to Eporo Ekiti from Emure on their school bus,” the source had said.
It was gathered that the incident caused panic among residents in the town who had appealed to security agencies for protection.
The incident followed the killing of two traditional rulers in the state by suspected bandits.
It could be recalled that Ekiti State Governor, Biodun Oyebanji, on Saturday assured parents and families of kidnapped pupils and staff of the Apostolic Faith Group of Schools, Emure Ekiti, that they would soon be rescued to rejoin them.
Oyebanji promised that efforts were in top gear to secure the release of the abductees safely and as well apprehend the perpetrators to face the law.
Gunmen had on Monday attacked a bus conveying the schoolchildren and staff from school back to their homes at Eporo and whisked nine of the occupants away to an unknown destination in the forest.
The Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Special Interest Groups, Princess Toyin Agbaje-Malomo, disclosed this during a visit to parents and families of the abductees, who had gathered in Emure Ekiti, looking forward to the safe return of their beloved ones.
Present on the occasion were four parents and families – Mrs Dorcas Ojo, the grandmother of three of the children ages 15, 11 and 11; Mr Adebisi Jegede, whose wife and 12-year-old son are in the kidnappers’ den; Oluwadare Oniya, father of abducted nine-year-old girl and Pastor Clement Adebisi, whose wife was kidnapped.
Addressing the concerned parents and families, Agbaje-Malomo said, “You are not alone; we are together in it. Governor Biodun Oyebanji is assiduously working on it so that our people in captivity will be rescued to rejoin families and loved ones.”
A worried grandmother, Ojo, in her reaction, said, “For our gathering this morning, it is money we want. The kidnappers have said that if we bring the money now, they will release them to us.
“I have three children there. It is the kidnappers who are calling us that the children are getting weak and that we should bring ‘their’ N15m ransom on time. When we offered them the amount that we have gathered, they rejected it, saying unless the N15m was complete.”
