The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Dele Alake has condemned the kidnapping of some school children in Ekiti.
The minister condemned the act in a statement he personally signed on Tuesday in Abuja.
About six pupils, three teachers and the bus driver of a private school in Emure-Ekiti were abducted while returning to Eporo-Ekiti on Monday.
Alake also condemned the killing of two traditional rulers in Ekiti, who were reportedly killed while returning from a security meeting in Irele-Ekiti by suspected kidnappers.
They were said to be in a vehicle being driven by one of their colleagues, the Alara of Ikole Ekiti, when they were attacked by gunmen along a community in Ikole Local Government Area of Ekiti State on Monday.
“I received with deep sadness, the report of yesterday’s killing of two traditional rulers in Ekiti, the Onimojo of Imojo- Ekiti, Oba Olatunde Samuel Olusola and the Elesun of Esun-Ekiti, Oba David Babatunde Ogunsola.
“These two traditional rulers, according to media reports, were gruesomely murdered by their assailants while returning from a security meeting.
“The tragic incident, again, speaks to the challenges of insecurity in our country, which the President Nola Tinubu-led administration is working very hard to surmount,” he said.
Alake urged security agencies to fish out the perpetrators of the heinous crime, and ensure they faced the full wrath of the law.
He commiserated with the governor of Ekiti, Abiodun Oyebanji; the government and people of Ekiti, especially the families and subjects of the traditional rulers.
Recall that the governor had described the incident as callous and unacceptable in a statement, and said that security agencies in the state were already on the trail of the abductors to ensure their safe return.
He said that security is being beefed up across the state with the aim of taking criminals from their hideouts.