By Rotimi Ojomoyela
Ado-Ekiti–It was a moment of pain and despair as residents of Eda-Oniyo Community in Ilejemeje Local Government Area of Ekiti State staged a protest, demanding the release of 16 kidnapped residents despite the payment of a ₦10.5 million ransom.
The protesters, made up of community leaders, relatives of the victims, women and youths, lamented that the abductees had remained in the custody of their captors for 36 days, with the kidnappers demanding ₦50 million before releasing them.
The aggrieved residents, in their large numbers, held placards with inscriptions such as, ‘We are peace-loving indigenes. FG, Ekiti State Government, save our loved ones from kidnappers, ‘President Tinubu, save us, we are perishing’, ‘we are helpless on this issue, save our loved ones from captivity’.
Others included ‘Eda-Oniyo as the Headquarters of Ilejemeje Local Government deserves a functional and befitting division police headquarters’, ‘we reject any act of terrorism, banditry in Eda Oniyo’, ‘Eda-Oniyo needs forest guards, military base as a border community’, ‘no to terrorism, no to banditry, no to kidnapping and no to establishment of I.D.P in Eda-Oniyo Ekiti’, among others.
Recall that gunmen stormed a Christ Apostolic Church (CAC) in the Community on April 28, 2026, killing a presiding revivalist simply known as Pastor Aregbe during the service and abducting 16 worshippers.
The abductors initially demanded a ₦1 billion ransom, which was later reportedly reduced to ₦150 million before shifting ground to ₦ 50 million.
Speaking during the protest, a community member, known as Bose Ajayi, appealed to government authorities to rescue the victims, noting that women, children and elderly persons were among those still being held by the bandits.
“We are here to plead on behalf of our village. Our people have been in captivity for 36 days. We have children as young as two and three years old, and an elderly woman who is over 80 years old, among those kidnapped. Families are suffering, and children keep asking for their mothers.
“We are begging the Federal Government, the state government and the local government to help secure their release. Women are crying, children are crying, and the entire community is in pain”. She added
Also speaking, Ayodele Ajayi said that communication with the captives had continued intermittently, but no concrete rescue effort had yielded results.
His words, “Our people have been kidnapped for 36 days. We contributed what we could as a community and paid ₦10.5 million ransom, but the kidnappers refused to release them. Instead, they are demanding more money.
“There are 16 victims in total. Most of them are women, while two are young boys. We are pleading with the government at all levels to come to our aid and rescue our people”.
Another community representative, Ayodele Oni, said residents felt abandoned despite the prolonged ordeal.
According to him, the community had raised the ransom through collective efforts and also supplied food items and other materials demanded by the kidnappers.
Oni described the process of delivering the ransom and supplies as traumatic, revealing that community representatives travelled across neighbouring states and trekked several kilometres through forests before the kidnappers collected the money.
“We raised ₦10.5 million, supplied two bags of rice and several other items they requested. They even demanded fuel, cigarettes and other provisions. We complied with all these demands, yet our people are still being held.
“Last night, we heard from them again. They are now insisting on ₦50 million despite everything we have already given them.
“The process of giving them the ransom was a terrible experience. We traversed parts of Kwara and Kogi states and trekked deep into the bush. After collecting the money, they simply told us we would hear from them. Since then, they have continued making fresh demands.
“Thirty-six days in the bush without proper shelter, bathing or medical care is unbearable. Our mothers, wives and children are suffering severe trauma”.
The community also demanded a security post in the town, as well as a military base between Eda-Oniyo and the Kwara boundary, saying the absence of a security architecture gave the bandits an easy foothold to attack the vicinity.
