Two separate attacks by gunmen in Ekiti State have heightened fears, with residents lamenting that the state’s bad roads are now kidnappers’ dens.
At a time the residents of Ekiti State began to feel that the security situation had improved, with kidnap cases and gunmen attacks reducing, criminals struck on Monday in two different locations.
The gunmen that operated at Oke-Ako – Ipao Road in the Northern Senatorial District shot dead two traditional rulers and threw their communities, the traditional institution, and indeed Ekiti State into mourning.
Tragic In Ekiti State
The slain traditional rulers were the Onimojo of Imojo Ekiti in the Oye Local Government area, Oba Olatunde Olusola, and the Elesun of Esun Ekiti in the Ikole Local Government area.
Also, Oba Babatunde Ogunsakin was slain, while the Alara of Ara Ekiti in the Ikole Council area, Oba Adebayo Fatoba, escaped being kidnapped or abducted.
The gunmen that struck along Emure – Eporo Road in the Southern Senatorial District and hijacked a school bus.
They abducted no fewer than five school children, three teachers and the driver put many families in pain and agony.
These two incidents happened only a day after a ghastly motor accident involving the bus of a church at Ise Ekiti claimed the lives of three female church members with no fewer than 10 others injured.
Fear enveloped the state as residents thought the two tragic incidents marked the return of deadly kidnappers in the state.
“Death-Trap” Roads
Residents of Ekiti lamented that the poor state of roads made the two incidents possible.
According to them, the two traditional rulers were killed on Oke-Ako – Ipao Road, which had been in a bad state for a long time.
They called on the state and federal governments to address the security concerns in the state.
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The residents of Ekiti State believe that the perpetrators of the act were taking advantage of the deplorable state of the roads in the state.
Residents Lament
A resident of the state, Timothy Agboola, said most of the victims of the abduction were being ambushed at the bad portion of the roads in the state.
Agboola added that the affected roads included both the state and federal roads.
He said: “The spate of bad roads in Ekiti State is alarming. Almost all the roads are in terrible condition and these are roads linking one town to another. I am talking about both the state and federal roads.
“These are the causes of the two incidents that happened on Monday and the ones that had happened in the past.
“The victims of the Monday incident were attacked while slowing down on the bad portions of the roads.
“Also, there are too many bumps on most of the roads in the state.
”These need to be promptly addressed as part of efforts to curb the activities of these criminals in our dear state.
“We learnt that the school bus slowed when it got to one of the bad spots when the gunmen shot its tyres”.
Slain Monarch
Meanwhile, residents of the state are mourning monarchs who were killed by the gunmen.
The mood was gloomy at Imojo Ekiti, as natives mourned the passage of the traditional ruler.
The Second-in-Command to the Onimojo, the Elejira of Imojo, Chief Ayodele Dada, described the killing of the monarch as painful, saying the late traditional ruler initiated several developmental projects in the community.
Dada, who lamented frequent kidnapping activities in the area in the last few months, called on the government to double its efforts in providing security for the people of the state.
The traditional chief said: “We will sorely miss the late Kabiyesi. But in his memory, we appeal to the state government to complete the Imojo palace project which he began so that we can name it after him to immortalise him”.
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