Ondo rep cries out, says bandits holding his brother after payment of ransom

Timehin Adelegbe, a member of the house of representatives, says Bola Adelegbe, his younger brother, who was abducted by suspected bandits is yet to be released despite the payment of a “substantial” ransom.

Adelegbe, who represents Owo/Ose federal constituency of Ondo, spoke on the floor of the green chamber on Tuesday while moving a motion on the need to address the “incessant killing and kidnapping” by suspected bandits in Ose LGA of the state.

The lawmaker said the victim, a former chairman of Ose LGA, was kidnapped on April 23.

THE MOTION

While leading the debate on the motion, Adelegbe, who is a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) said there have been “persistent” killings and kidnapping of citizens of Ijagba, Imoru, Molete, Arimogija, Ute and Okeluse communities in the  LGA by bandits.

According to the lawmaker, bandits have held the communities in “perpetual siege and bondage” leading to wanton loss of lives, properties and farmlands.

He said 50 people have been killed with “several kidnapped and unaccounted for” in the last two years, including the recent abduction of one Isaac Ohimeren and his son Solomon.

He added that Ohimeren was murdered while his son was released after the payment of N400,000 ransom.

“In the same LGA, one of the foremost traditional rulers of the state, the late Oba Israel Adeusi, the Olufon of Ifon, was shot dead while returning from a function in the state capital on 26 November 2020,” he said.

The lawmaker said bandits are “operating unhindered in the forest reserve spanning about 10km behind Okeluse where they have converted to their permanent base”.

Following the adoption of the motion, the house asked the federal government to set up a “well-equipped and properly motivated joint security task force to curb the Okeluse forest reserve” to apprehend the culprits and end the killings.

The house further asked Olukayode Egbetokun, the inspector-general of police (IGP), to “urgently” dispatch enough personnel to the troubled communities to keep the attackers at bay and  also take over the investigation on the whereabouts of the lawmakers’ younger brother