Masked men have again kidnapped a traditional ruler, the Ojibara of Bayagan in Ifelodun local government area of Kwara State, Oba Kamilu Salami.

His family members and associates confirmed the abduction of the monarch to this medium on Sunday.

The monarch was kidnapped around 9:30am by a gang of bandits who stormed his farm with AK-47 rifles.

According to family source, the traditional ruler was kidnapped around last Friday.

A source (names withheld) said the gunmen, who had been trailing the monarch for days, reportedly stormed the farm and whisked him away on a motorcycle.

Another farmer, who shared boundary with the Oba, allegedly saw it all but refused to come to the Oba’s rescue for the fear of being overpowered and joined in the march to unknown destination as well.

It was the fellow farmer from neighbouring village that later alerted other farmers in the area who teamed up to raise a search team.

They were convinced of the abduction when they could no longer locate Oba Salami but found his motorcycle abandoned on his farm.

The eyewitness, who claimed he was hiding inside a guinea corn farm, said: “I saw the kidnappers forcing the Ojibara of Bayagan onto a motorcycle and sped off to an unknown direction.”

A reliable source, however, said the kidnappers harvested mass abduction along the routes out of Bayagan.
Meanwhile, the kidnappers have reached out to the palace and the community, demanding N150 Millon as ransom.

Our reporter learnt that the bandits spoke with the community in the wee hours of Sunday to demand for the amount.

Oba Ojibara was asked by the bandits to speak with members of his community to convince them that he was in their custody.

According to family source, the monarch urged the community to come to his rescue by negotiating with the bandits for his quick release.

He said they took him on the motorcycle in the thick forests for over five hours before they arrived at a destination from where they now communicated with the community.

The source hinted that negotiation has not commenced as the call was meant to just inform the community of the ransom amount and that the monarch is in their custody.

The monarch reportedly told members of his community on phone that unspecified number of people were also abducted in the neighbouring community while he was being taken away.