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| Lai-Muhammed |
According to First Weekly Magazine vol 9 edition 14. The news of the kidnapping of the
Chairman of Ejigbo Local Council Development Area, Hon. Kehinde Bamigbetan in
Lagos two weeks ago was like a tale by the moonlight as the news devastated the
residents of the metropolitan city. The state is one of the few with cases of
high profile kidnapping.
What made the matter more annoying
was the fact that the journalist-turned politician was kidnapped right in his
territory, where he holds sway as council chairman.
But, Bamigbetan, who has since
regained his freedom, has been thanking his stars as many, who had passed
through such a dangerous terrain in the past are not alive to tell their
stories.
However, information pieced together
last week by First Weekly revealed that the ransom of N15 Million paid to
the kidnappers to rescue the council chairman was sponsored by the Publicity
Secretary of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Alhaji Lai Mohammed.
Our informant maintained that the
reality of the sad incident jolted the ACN, which is the ruling party in the
state and all the councils there, such that its leadership had sleepless nights
until the seasoned politician was left off the hook.
Asked if the money was paid from the
purse of the party, the source, who craved anonymity, replied that all that he
knew about the matter was that Lai Mohammed negotiated with the hoodlums and
came up with the mouth-watering sum after negotiations on the phone.
“All I can say is that the deal was
sealed by Alhaji Lai Mohammed. The party was busy with the merger talk and its
final and last convention, when the news broke. People like the leader of the
ACN, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the party Chairman, Chief Bisi Akande were
busy with the last and final convention of the party and the merger with others
to form the new mega party, All Progressive Congress (APC). But Lai Mohammed
was mandated to handle the matter and ensure the release of Bamigbetan and he
was able to seal the deal. It is possible that the money was provided by the
party, what is important is that the council chairman was able to regain his
freedom from the hands of the hoodlums,” he said.
Speaking at a thanksgiving service
organized by the council last week after his release, Bamigbetan berated the
Federal Government for the massive youth unemployment in the country.
He
said; "While the PDP- led Federal Government continues to demonstrate
incompetence in addressing the problem of graduate unemployment that is turning
kidnapping and ransome taking into the newest flourishing criminal venture, the
governments of the Action Congress of Nigeria have demonstrated the superiority
of vision by creating over 100,000 jobs for graduates in the last three years.
In the LCDA, since January 2012, we have facilitated the employment of 156
graduates in well paid jobs. It is therefore clear that a vote for the APC in
the next federal elections will usher in the over meant that will solve
graduate unemployment."
It will be
recalled that Hon. Kehinde Bamigbetan
was said to have been abducted by four gunmen on his way home at
about 11:00pm penultimate Monday as he was about entering Ona Iwa
Mimo Street, Ori Oke before
Egbe Bridge at Ejigbo, where his house is located. He was reportedly with his driver,
Biodun Olayiwola, in his black Ford Everest Jeep with special registration
number KOK, without any police orderly, as the chairman was never known to
use police escorts since assumption of office.
The gunmen were
said to have released several gun shots into the air to scare away residents
before catching up with Bamigbetan and his driver whose four-wheel drive got
stuck in the mud in a bid to escape from the assailants. Bamigbetan was later
whisked away by the gunmen.
Bamigbetan’s
driver, Olayiwola, who escaped with minor bruises, said that he and his boss
were attacked by three armed men while another member of the gang was waiting
in the assailants’ car in an attack that barely lasted three minutes.
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