HUNDREDS of Epe farmers on Monday stormed the office of the Lagos State governor, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode, to protest continued abduction of their members from kidnappers, lamenting that over 50 of their colleagues had so far been kidnapped with severally millions of naira paid as ransom before the victims were freed by kidnappers.
[dropcap]H[/dropcap]undreds of Epe farmers on Monday stormed the office of the Lagos State governor, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode, to protest continued abduction of their members from kidnappers, lamenting that over 50 of their colleagues had so far been kidnapped with severally millions of naira paid as ransom before the victims were freed by kidnappers.
She was immediately rushed to the clinic in the Governor’s office by the health workers.
The protesters expressed sadness that despite the ugly development, the state government had not taken a decisive action to stem the tide in the axis.
This was just as the protesters, who converged at the Shoprite and marched to the Ikeja, House, said that five of their members and two members of Oodua People’s Congress (OPC) abducted by the kidnappers on February 14 were still being held by the abductors.
The farmers, while lamenting that the armed abductors frequently stormed their farms located on Igbodu-Ishiwo Road and kidnapped their colleagues at will, enjoined Governor Ambode to mobilise the Joint Task Force to dislodge kidnapers from the creek surrounding the Igbodu farm settlements where the kidnappers were believed to be operating from.
They urged the governor to immediately take decisive action, contending that kidnapping of innocent farmers was discouraging entrepreneurs from engaging in farming.
They also said that the unwholesome act was working against economic diversification which the All Progressives Congress-led federal government was preaching.
Speaking on behalf of the protesters, Mr Ayokunle Ore, said with continued kidnapping of their members, over N20bn investments were being threatened, saying that many of them no longer go to the farms to feed their birds or irrigate their farms for fear of kidnappers, who according to him, now operated at will on the axis.
Ore added since September 2016, farmers in Igbodu/Isiwo had been under sustained attacks by the kidnappers who stormed the farms, abduct their members and demand huge ransom.
Explaining the series of successful attacks by the abductor, Ore said: “On 16th of September, three (3) female farm workers and six-month-old baby were kidnapped. Two months later, precisely, 16th of November, four farmers were kidnapped from Farmville.
“Also, on November 21st of the same year, five workers were kidnapped from Kodjo Farms. On the 19th of January, 2017, we also recorded another incident when two (2) farm workers, one of them a female were kidnapped from Tanda Farms. The kidnappers also visited Elysian Farm, the farm managers and a customer was kidnapped on the same day.
“Just last month, February 14, the kidnappers returned to Elysian Farms and kidnapped 4 workers, a casual worker, 2 vigilante group members. As at the last count, kidnappers were demanding N5million for each of the kidnapped 7 people who are still in their captivity.
“As criminal continue to ravage our communities and our farms, we have met with the Commissioner of Police, unfortunately whatever efforts the police must have made so far could not yield any result as the spate of kidnapping is on the increase. Even our private efforts in engaging community vigilantes, and supporting the police in limited patrol that invariably limited our costs, have also not yielded any reprieve. Sometime, we have had to pay heavily for police efforts to get to our farms.”
Narrating his ordeal in kidnappers’ den, one of the survivors, Mr. Kazeem Adejare, said he was that faithful surrounded by those he thought were armed robbers only to discover that they were kidnappers.
“Initially I thought they were armed robbers, I tried to run, one of them threw stick at me and I fell down, they grabbed and took me away. I was begging them when they were taking me away. They asked for the manager of the farm, but I told them I am the supervisor of the farm.
“They dragged me on the floor to the riverside; to my surprise when I got to the river to my surprise I met four of our workers already in their boat. When we got to the creek they beat us with cutlass and we were also given another cloth to wear.
