Afenifere decries rise in kidnapping, destruction of INEC facilities in South-West

Afenifere, a pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, condemned the recent wave of kidnappings and attacks by non-state actors in the country’s South-West, particularly along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, on Monday.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) offices in the area were recently set on fire, the organisation observed in a statement released by its National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Jare Ajayi.
Afenifere issued a warning that the rising violence in the South-West might be a sign of terrorists moving into the area from the North.

Last month, there were at least three separate kidnapping incidents on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

In one of the cases, a former Deputy Vice- Chancellor of the University of Ibadan, Prof. Adigun Agbaje, and two students of Moshood Abiola Polytechnic , Abeokuta, were kidnapped and only released after payment of ransoms.

The statement read: “Reports also had it that suspected Fulani bandits attacked travellers on October 27, 2022, abducting five persons and killing several others. Two days after, on October 29, seven bandits in Irele Ekiti-Oke Ako Highway in Ajoni Local Council Development Area, Ekiti State abducted four travelers.”

The group asked the governors of the South-West to combat regional instability with greater rigour.

“Unauthorized burning of any property is condemnable by all standards. The fact that this type of arson reared its head in the South-West is unacceptable. It should be thoroughly investigated and made to be the last of such an occurrence. There should be no excuse whatsoever to put the 2023 general elections in jeopardy.”