The Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland, Chief Gani Adams says victims of kidnapping in the southwest region have paid over N3bn as ransom to their captors within the last four years.
Adams said this during a conference organised by the Southwest Security Stakeholders Group (SSSG), on Thursday, August 19, 2021, in Abeokuta, Ogun state capital.
He said the group was formed to address security challenges in Yorubaland, adding that insecurity in the region has reached an alarming dimension.
He said, “The south-west has lost over N3 billion as ransom paid to bandits and kidnappers ravaging the region in the last four years. And sadly too, we have lost a good number of our great sons and daughters to the criminal activities of the killer herdsmen and bandits.
“The situation in the country is so worrisome that travellers can hardly travel for a journey of about six hours in the country without facing the trauma of being kidnapped or killed by bandits. The recent killing in Jos was a sad reminder of the gory situation we face daily across the country.
“Insecurity has reached an alarming dimension where there is urgent need for us to take drastic action towards ending the prevailing scourge.”
Speaking at the event, the guest lecturer, Gbenga Akingbehin said the “forced” amalgamation of Nigeria in 1914 became the country’s biggest problem.
Akingbehin, who is a lecturer in the Department of Public Law, University of Lagos added that long years of military rule in Nigeria contributed to the current level of insecurity in the country.