Mr. Okasime Olowojoba, the chairman of the Labour Party’s Ward 1 in the Akoko-Edo Local Government Area of Edo State, has not been released more than three weeks after being kidnapped and having a ₦5 million ransom paid.
According to The Intercept, local youngsters revealed this at a demonstration against the government’s claimed insensitivity and desertion of their predicament, especially with relation to infrastructure development and the safety of people and property.
Hundreds of demonstrators gathered on the state’s notoriously congested Auchi-Igarra-Ibillo Motorway to voice their disapproval of the road’s state of disrepair.
The spokesperson for the protesters, Paul Lawani, lamented that more than three weeks after the kidnapping of the Labour Party chieftain and the payment of ₦5 million ransom, his abductors are yet to release him to his family.
Lawani attributed the incessant kidnappings in the local government to bad roads, especially a notoriously dangerous spot within the Sasaro community—an area previously known for violent abductions and where the politician was kidnapped.
According to him, a chieftain of the Labour Party in Akoko-Edo Local Government Area, Okasime Olowojoba, who was kidnapped along the road three weeks ago, is still being held by his captors despite receiving ₦5 million from the victim’s family and friends.
“The poor condition of the road has led to a high rate of insecurity and poverty in the area. Insecurity has become a daily occurrence in the locality, causing fear and trepidation.
“We want the state government to come and tell us what they plan to do about this road and the ongoing kidnappings in our area.
“Akoko-Edo Local Government Area has three general hospitals, and none is functioning well.
“As of today, Akoko-Edo is ripe for a military base, yet we see these bases being established in areas that may not necessarily need them.
“Is the local government chairman not aware of the security challenges in the area before he was appointed by the state government?
“Is the state government not aware that one of the key drivers of these kidnappings is the deplorable condition of the road? Instead of fixing the road, they are already campaigning for Tinubu in 2027,” he said.
Lawani said that the government has reportedly persisted in treating Akoko-Edo as a colony in spite of the region’s significant contribution to Edo State’s GDP.
Additionally, the demonstrators charged local government officials with being indifferent to their predicament.
Travellers, including heavy-duty vehicles and other road users, were left stranded for several hours due to the protest’s severe traffic jams.
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They promised to keep protesting until their issues were addressed by the state administration.
It took the intervention of the Otaru of Igarra, Oba Adeche Saiki, who sent emissaries to the protesters to open the road for traffic.
Efforts to obtain a response from the state government proved abortive, as the State Commissioner for Information and Communication, Barrister Paul Ohonbamu, could not be reached by phone.
The Intercept recalls that Labour Party chairman Okasime Olowojoba was abducted by suspected kidnappers on Saturday, April 26, 2025, along the Auchi–Benin–Ibillo Road while on his way to Igarra from Auchi.
The victim, who is a realtor, had gone to bring his children home ahead of school resumption on Monday, April 28, 2025.
