Abducted Oyo ASUP leaders, others regain freedom
by Oseheye Okwuofu, Ibadan
Five members of the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnic (ASUP), Oyo State College of Agriculture and Technology Igbo-ora, who were reported to have been kidnapped on Thursday on their way from Saki have regained freedom.
The five lecturers were freed by their abductors on Saturday night after payment of N5 million ransom, according to the leaders of ASUP.
A source from the institution told reporters on condition of anonymity that the abducted leaders regained freedom on Saturday night after the payment of the said ransom.
Opadijo Oluyide, the ASUP Chairman, his Secretary, Mr. Gbenga Alayande and three others were kidnapped on Thursday night while returning from Saki.
The union leaders had attended the Joint Action Committee (JAC) of unions in all the six Oyo state owned tertiary institutions at Oke-Ogun Polytechnic, Saki.
He said that the ransom was contributed by members of staff of the institution to secure the release of the leaders.
According to the source: “We just secured their release this night after payment of five million contributed by our members.
“I want to tell you that we have lost confidence in the Nigerian Police Force. Those who kidnapped our leaders were Fulanis.
“We are going to stage a protest to the government secretariat to remove totally the ‘Kara’ market in this area. We will down tools until the market is totally removed.”