TheCable

Olayiwola Adeleke, caretaker chairman of Iganna local council development area of Oyo state, and his driver, who were kidnapped along Okeho-Ado Awaye road, on Monday,  have been released.

The council boss was on his way to Ibadan to attend a meeting with Seyi Makinde, the state governor, when he was kidnapped.

After his abduction, members of the vigilante group of Nigeria made effort to apprehend the kidnappers, combing forest along the road where they were kidnapped without success.

The kidnappers later reached out to families of the council chairman and his driver, making a combined ransom demand of N200m for their release.

It is not clear if the ransom was paid before their captors released them.

Gbenga Fadeyi, the state police public relations officer, confirmed the release of the chairman and his driver to TheCable.

“The chairman has regained freedom and reunited with his family,” he said.

Moses Alao, a media aide to the state governor, also confirmed the release of the chairman and his driver during a telephone conversation with TheCable.

Despite the efforts of government to check the high level of insecurity, kidnapping has been on the rise.

Governors of the south-west states had launched Amotekun, a regional security outfit, but criminality is still a major challenge in the region.