Ekiti abduction: Why school bus driver was killed – Parent

More revelations have emerged on the driver of the Apostolic Faith Group of Schools, Emure-Ekiti, Ekiti State, who was abducted last week, but never made it out from the forest.

Daily Trust had reported how all the abducted victims were released but the driver was killed in the forest.

The kidnappers reportedly killed and burnt the driver of the school bus, identified as Taiwo Olugbaye, in the forest.

One of the parents of the victims said the children and teachers were freed after N15 million, food, tramadol, milk, and hard drinks were handed over to the abductors as ransom.

 “When they released the victims to us, I embraced my family members. I thank God for the reunion. It was one of them who said that they shot the driver dead,” the parent said as reported by Daily Trust.

Asked why the driver was killed, the parent said: “The children told us that they (kidnappers) asked for the phone number of relatives to call from each of them in the forest.

 “The driver told them he didn’t know that of his wife and school proprietor off-hand. This made them angry and they hit him with their gun.

“For five days, he was writhing in pain from the injury he sustained. On Saturday morning, he was shot dead and painfully, his body was burnt to ashes. It was a bitter and terrifying experience for the children.”

Meanwhile, the Alara of Ara in the Ikole LGA of Ekiti State, Oba Adebayo Fatoba, has narrated how he escaped from a recent attack by gunmen, which resulted in the tragic deaths of his two colleagues.

Last week Monday, Fatoba escaped after gunmen killed two monarchs: the Onimojo of Imojo, Oba Olatunde Olusola; and the Elesun of Esun Ekiti, Oba Babatunde Ogunsakin, while returning from a security meeting.

Narrating his ordeal, the monarch said he escaped from the kidnappers’ bullet through the grace of God not with any supernatural power as being speculated in some quarters.

Oba Fatoba said the bullets fired at him by the hoodlums did not penetrate his body.

He, however, expressed sadness that his other colleagues were not so lucky.

He said the community had sought permission from the state police to address the persistent attacks by gunmen on the communities.

“People who said that I disappeared-I want them to know that it is a lie. I ran to the security guards we put in that area because it had been a hotspot,” he said.

He said upon reaching one of the security guards, he instructed the guard to fire into the air, but the firearm jammed. He added that the security guards were gripped by fear and were unable to approach them for a rescue operation.