AFTER four days in the kidnappers den, the former Secretary to the
Government of the Federation, SGF, Chief Oluyemisi Falae who was
yesterday escorted back home by security operatives said he slept on the
floor for four days and trekked several kilometers to get to the hideout of
his abductors.
Falae said this while narrating his ordeal in the hands of his abductors to
the state governor, Dr Olusegun Mimiko who visited him after he was
excorted home by the Inspector General of Police, IGP, Solomon Arase
at about 4.14pm in a black Police SUV, marked NPF 03-23.
The IGP rode in another Police SUV with number plate NPF 8713 C.
Injury on left elbow
The former Minister who had a wound on his left elbow looked frail and
spoke in hushed tones while telling the governor and his family members
his experience. Falae confirmed that his abductors were the Fulani
herdsmen who invaded his farm on Monday.
According to him, after he was kidnapped he was made to trek with the
herdsmen from his farm located at Ilado in Akure North council area of
the state to Owo, which is another council area in the state.
Falae told the governor that for the four days he was with the Fulani
herdsmen he slept on bare ground and trekked several kilometers
throughout the night to get to the hideout of the kidnappers.
According to him, when his family offered to pay N2 million, his
abductors said: “Is it Boko Haram that your family wants to give N2
million?”
He said it was an experience that he would never forget in his entire
lifetime.
Arriving home
Immediately he arrived his residence, his personal physician who was
waiting gave him medication.
Vanguard gathered that the Fulani herdsmen dropped Chief Falae in front
of Joyland Hotel in Owo and the security operatives later picked him up
from there to Akure.
It was gathered that the family and the security operatives had to appeal
to the owner of the hotel to allow the politician have a change of clothes
in their room.
His Personal Assistant, Captain Moshood Raji (retd), took back the cloth
he wore for four days in the kidnappers den to his residence in Akure.
The politician was accompanied to his Oba-Ile residence by the IGP, the
Commissioner of Police, CP Mike Ogbodu, after he was picked up in
Owo where his abductors reportedly dropped him.
A family source later informed Vanguard that their father said that any
time he was exhausted, the eight herdsmen, used to back him one after
the other until they got to Owo.
IGP Arase speaks
In an interview after he accompanied Falae home, IGP Arase said: “The
important thing now is that Baba Falae is back home safe and sound
according to the mandate given to me by the President.
“President Muhammadu Buhari gave me a mandate and that is what I
have done exactly, rescuing Baba Falae and bringing him back home safe
and sound.’’
He vowed that the Police will continue to battle insecurity frontally.
According to him; “We are going to diversify our strategy so that
hoodlums will not overwhelm the state.
‘’We will continue to degrade, catch and bring them to book.
He said that no ransom was paid and that nobody has been arrested.
Asked about where the victim was rescued, the IGP said it was a security
matter and not meant for public consumption.
Mimiko
Speaking with newsmen after meeting with Chief Falae, Ondo State
governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko who arrived the residence at about
4.35pm thanked God that the politician is back safe and sound.
Mimiko said he was worried and prayed that Chief Falae should come
back home safely.
He said that he was worried that the issue of kidnapping was taking a
dangerous dimension in Nigeria, saying “we must tackle this in wider
dimension that somebody of his pedigree was taken away while working
on his farm.”
Dependable sources said that the family concluded the ransom agreement
with the kidnappers on Wednesday and they were asked to pick him up in
Lokoja, Kogi State.
But the kidnappers later called that he would not be released until
yesterday ostensibly to beat any security tab on them.
It was after they reportedly dropped him in Owo that they told the family
to pick him up in front of the hotel.
Falae’s children and newsmen
Meanwhile, the politician’s children were hostile to newsmen, ordering
them out of the compound after which the gate was shut against them.
The politician’s daughters called journalists names, saying they did not
need the exposure given to their father’s travail.
Vanguard gathered authoritatively that the family paid a ransom running
into several millions of Naira, but the sources refused to disclose how
much. Police on the other hand, however, denied ransom payment.
Political associates of the politician trooped to his residence to welcome
him back.
The Primate of the Anglican Church, Most Revd. Nicholas Okoh on
Wednesday, led over 180 Bishops to pray for the release of Chief Falae
at their meeting which was held in Akure, the Ondo State capital.
Source: Vanguard