Kidnappings: Commotion As Angry Youths Set Emir’s Palace, NDLEA Office Ablaze In Kwara

On Monday, some angry youths in Lafiagi, the headquarters of Edu Local Government Area, stormed and set fire to the palace of the Emir of Lafiagi and the local office of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA). The violent protest was triggered by growing frustration over the persistent wave of kidnappings in the area.

Tension had gripped the Lafiagi community on Monday, a development that prompted protests by youth in the community to express their feelings on the abduction of a popular businessman.

The angry residents had earlier staged a protest on Monday over the latest kidnap incident, blocking roads, burning used tyres and demanding urgent government intervention before they went to burn their monarch’s palace and the NDLEA office.

Protesters in a viral video also cited the recent abduction of a young man operating a Point of Sale (POS) business as further evidence of growing insecurity in the area.

“The situation is getting out of hand,” one resident said in the video circulating during the protest.

“We can’t sleep with our eyes closed anymore. People are being taken almost weekly now.”

Residents are urging security agencies to intensify patrols, track down the kidnappers, and ensure the safe return of those abducted.

The burning of the monarch’s palace and the NDLEA office was fuelled by the latest abduction of a prominent agro-chemical dealer, widely known as Alhaji Chemical, on Sunday.

Locals told Vanguard that Alhaji Chemical was reportedly abducted from his home in the Taiwo area of the town around 1:00 a.m. on Sunday by gunmen suspected to be bandits.

The attackers, said to have arrived on motorcycles, overpowered local vigilantes with heavy gunfire before abducting the businessman.

Sources in the community believe the operation was targeted and well-planned, given the victim’s prominence and the precision of the attack.

The development has sparked fresh anxiety in the Lafiagi community, where residents say cases of kidnapping have become increasingly frequent.

Contacted, the state Commissioner of Police, Mr Adekimi Ojo who confirmed the incident said that he was in Lafiagi on Monday alongside Brigade Commander of 22 Brigade Sobi, Ilorin stated that the protest was organized by some miscreants who damaged some louvres in the Emir’s palace and torched the office of the NDLEA in the community.

“The miscreants who ran away on sighting the Police and the Soldiers also freed four suspects who were in detention at the NDLEA office, Lafiagi.

“As I’m speaking with you now, the Police, Soldiers, hunters and the local Vigilantes are in the bush in Lafiagi in search of those kidnapped by the bandits after I and the Brigade Commander have addressed them”, the Police commissioner told Vanguard correspondent in a telephone conversation.