Youths Protest as Kidnapping on Auchi-Igarra-Ibillo Road Heightens

Youths of Igarra community in Akoko Edo local government area have stormed the bushes along Auchi-Igarra road in search of a gallant peasant farmer who was brutally attacked and subdued by kidnappers suspected to be Fulani herdsmen.

Dependable sources in the community disclosed that the victim who was on his way from the farm in the company of his wife put up a fight for his life as he resisted the attempt to kidnap him. He however succumbed to the greater force of the kidnappers who macheted him severally before taking away his wife.
Sources say that although the farmer’s wife has since been released after an alleged payment of ransom, no trace has been found of the man. The search for the farmer by the youths reportedly caused the setting up of check points at which three hunters returning from a hunting expedition in Ekperi in Etsako Central LGA where intercepted and handed over to the Divisional Police Command in Igarra.

In a press statement on the developments, the Akoko – Edo Security Network (AESN – Vigilantes & Hunters) has expressed concerns on the security situation in the local government area and the circumstances of the three hunters whose names were given as Friday Akushode,Famous Ajulo and Adogame Omokoje.

In the statement signed by its spokesman Comrade Aimanerimi Victor Arogunyo, the AESN said that the leadership of Akoko-Edo Hunters Association have since identified the three hunters who hail from Ojah community as their bonafide members.

He said that efforts were being made to sort out the mix up at a joint meeting of security operatives and other concerned stakeholders. Mr Arogunyo also urged the indigenes of the area to go about their normal businesses as security operatives and the Akoko Edo Security Network were set to deepen their collaboration with a view to ensuring that the area was crime free.