The Regent of Akungba-Akoko in Akoko South-West Local Government Area of Ondo State, Princess Oluwatoyin Omosowon, returned to her palace after 14 days in captivity. GISTMANIA brings excerpts from her meeting with her subjects after her release. Sixteen days after her abduction and 24 hours after she was rescued by security agents, the Regent of Akungba-Akoko in Akoko South-West Local Government Area of Ondo State, Princess Oluwatoyin Omosowon, has returned to her town where a new set of rites were performed on her as the traditional ruler of the town.
The new traditional rites, according to chiefs in the town, were to cleanse her of any defilement that she must have gone through during her stay in the kidnappers’ den for 14 days. The two sets of rites were to fortify her against any future attack and to reinstall her as the monarch of the town, having stayed away for days more than necessary.
The regent was on her way to Akure, the state capital, where she wanted to attend the 69th inaugural lecture of the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA). The lecture was delivered by the Vice- Chancellor of Adekunle-Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko, Prof. Igbekele Ajibefun, when she was kidnapped barely 10 kilometres to her home town. She was abducted with her driver and two others. She was in the custody of her kidnappers until she was rescued by security operatives on Tuesday. The elated but psychologically disturbed monarch told the chiefs and residents of the town who came to welcome her that her experience in the hands of her captors was similar to that of Biblical ‘Daniel in Lion’s den’ as she never thought she would be freed alive.
Although she said she was fasting and praying for her release, she doubted if she would make it alive because of the demands of her abductors and the issue raised by the kidnappers over the dispute in respect of the installation of a new monarch for the town. Omosowon is the third regent of the town since the demise of Oba Adekanye Omosowon in 2004. Efforts to install a new monarch have also been frustrated by different suits instituted by the contestants to the stool. She said she was afraid that she could be killed to allow for the installation of a new monarch. One of the kidnappers told her that her life had been paid for and she would be killed whether or not any ransom was paid.
According to her, the kidnappers demanded for a ransom of N200 million, an amount she was not sure could be raised either by her community, the local government or the state government considering the present economic realities in the country.
Also, she said the reference to the obaship tussle in the town made her fret as the kidnappers accused her of preventing the installation of a new monarch for the town. She thanked Ondo State Governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, for the role he played in ensuring her release and for deploying the state’s resources in making sure she did not die in captivity. She also thanked the immediate House of Assembly member in the town, Hon Abiodun Ogunbi, and the security agencies in the state.
The monarch, who spoke in Yoruba, waxed Biblical. She said when she was being led away by her captors through a route unknown to her, she had in mind that she would not die any death but live to tell of the glory of God. Her words: “They took us into the bush and we had to trek for hours before they took us to another location along Akure/ Owo Road in the middle of the night. They hit my head with an object and blood started gushing out.
They ordered us to lie on the floor. “We were taken to another location and from there to another forest where they released my secretary and one security official.
The kidnappers instructed them to go home and inform people about my abduction. They then brought another car which took us away from the place. We were tortured and had to walk into a swampy place and through a river before getting to where we were kept and they demanded for N200m as ransom. “They told me that I had been delaying the process of selecting another king for the town and I should contact Mimiko to pay the ransom.
We were subjected to torture. Many other victims were brought into the forest while some were either released or taken away to another place. I fasted for days, praying to God to touch their hearts. Thank God, the security operatives rescued us before they could carry out their threats.”
She appealed to the security agents to provide security for traditional rulers so that such an incident would not occur again. She also appealed to youths to engage in useful ventures instead of engaging in kidnapping or other heinous crimes.
She, however, added that she would still be given some days off in order to attend to her health as she sustained degree of injuries when she was being abducted. Omosowon was on the early hours of Tuesday released by a combined team of the military and the Department of the State Security Service (DSS) who killed a notorious kidnapper popularly known as ‘Federal’ in an effort to rescue the regent Two of his accomplices, David Ikpen and Lucky Smart, were also arrested during a shootout between the suspected kidnappers and security operatives.
The regent was rescued alongside with four others, including a youth corps member, Azuibike Ijeoma; an Indian, Alex T.J; a police officer, Obafe Sunday; and Aliu Abdujeli, at Igbonla village at Owo Local Government Area of state. The corps member, who also narrated her ordeal, said she boarded the vehicle from Abuja, to Lagos after leaving the orientation camp, not knowing that it was a kidnappers’ vehicle. She said that after some kilometres, the vehicle diverted into the bush.
“Initially, they asked me the jobs of my parents and I told them that they were not doing anything serious. Later they called my mum and demanded for N10 million or they would not see me anymore,” she recalled. The graduate of Economics from Ekiti State University, Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State said: “They kidnapped me on a Sunday and seized Kabiyesi the following Tuesday. They also kidnapped a foreigner and a pregnant woman.”
The pregnant woman was released because they could not take care of her as a result of the injury she sustained during her abduction. The husband of the woman, she added, was shot during the abduction. Giving details on how the victims were rescued, the Director of Directorate of State Security, Mr. Christian Ojobor, said they were rescued from the kidnappers’ den around 5a.m by DSS agents and soldiers.
Ojobor explained that the notorious gang had members all over the country with a strong network, adding that the victims were kidnapped at different states such as Ondo, Rivers and Abuja and kept in Ondo State.
His words: “When I heard about the various incidents of kidnapping in Ondo State, I had to talk to my DG; that we have a very big challenge here, that we need some more officers because this is a special trend. And my DG immediately obliged me. Then, we have teams in Rivers, Delta and Edo.
Eventually we realised that the same gang was operating in most of these areas but many of the victims were kept in Ondo here. That was how the work started between 4am and 5am and here we are today.”
While receiving the victims at the Government House, the governor expressed delight at the successful operation and said stiffer penalties await anybody caught in the act of kidnapping and other related offences. Mimiko said there was already an existing law against kidnapping in the state and promised that any amendment needed to make it harsher would be done. The governor, who congratulated the people of Akungba-Akoko for maintaining peace during their trying period, promised that the suspects would be prosecuted.
But one of the suspects, Ikpen David, said he was not one of the kidnappers but a driver to the head of the group, popularly known as Federal. Ikpen said he was the one that dropped Federal at the point that they were arrested.
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