Kidnapped Lagos PDP Chairman Regains Freedom

A Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Lagos State, Philip Aivoji has regained his freedom from kidnappers’ den.

The Ogun State Police Command confirmed Aivoji’s release in the early hours of Monday after spending four days with his kidnappers.

He was abducted, alongside some other party officials, by gunmen around Ogere on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway on Thursday last week.

They were returning from the party’s stakeholders’ zonal caucus meeting convened by the Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, in Ibadan, the state capital.

Reports stated that an earlier attempt to free the captives on Friday resulted in the death of one of the kidnap victims, 37-year-old Bilikisu Kazeem, due to a gun battle with the gunmen.

Meanwhile, on January 11, 2024, bandits invaded Kawu village in Bwari Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and abducted 18 persons, including a couple, children of the District Head of Kawu, and a female nurse.

The abductors have threatened to kill the remaining 11 victims if their families fail to pay the ransom money and provide brand new Bajaj motorcycles.

On Monday, January 22, 2024, the bandits released four of the victims after receiving N5m, but held back the remaining 11 in captivity.

One Bala Danjuma, a family member of four of the victims, said the bandits’ leader called on Saturday morning and threatened to kill the remaining 11 victims over delay in paying their ransom.