No Word From Kidnappers Of Engineer

Three weeks after he was kidnapped, there is no word from the kidnappers of an engineer, Mr Tolu Ayoola.

His family has passionately appealed to the police to urgently find their breadwinner.

Ayoola  was abducted by a gang of armed men around New Oko Oba, Agege area of Lagos, Southwest Nigeria at about  7.30 p.m. on 13 October.

The engineer was ambushed by the gunmen while he was on his way home.

It was reported that the kidnapper forced Ayoola into their vehicle, while one of them drove his white Hilux van with registration number EK 618 01, marked “Bureau of Special Projects.”

To scare off residents, the kidnappers were said to have shot several times in the air before they drove off.

It was reported that shortly after he was kidnapped, one of the kidnappers spoke with  a member of Ayola’s family, who called his mobile number, but Ayola’s phone was later switched off.

Taiwo, who spoke with the abductors on Ayoola’s telephone line, said a few hours after the incident, the abductors stopped picking the calls and switched off the phone the next day.

Therefore, the family could not establish contact with the kidnappers or speak with Ayoola since then.

The concerned family therefore appealed to the police and other security agencies to come to their aid in search of their bread winner.

Adepeju, Ayoola’s wife who is nursing a baby begged for government’s assistance, describing the kidnap as a shocking and sad development.

“My husband is a gentle man.  He is a professional that goes about his work diligently. My husband’s disappearance in the last three weeks has shattered the joy of the family, which was six months ago blessed with a baby,” she said.

According to her, her husband went out the evening he was kidnapped to buy fuel for their generator and battery for the baby’s walker.

She appealed to security agencies and well meaning Nigerians to come to their aid.

Ayoola’s younger brother, Taiwo, also appealed to the police to help the family in their search for Ayoola before it would be too late.

—Kazeem Ugbodaga