Security - Mr. Kehinde Bamigbetan, Chairman of the Ejigbo Local Council Development Area, a suburb of Lagos, the commercial capital of Nigeria, who was abducted by gunmen Monday, has been released unhurt, according to local media reports.
The reports said the Head of the Council’s Information Unit, Rabiu Hassan, confirmed the release of the Chairman who was kidnapped Monday.
The reports said Mr. Bamigbetan, who was abducted a few metres from his home, was released over night Friday after the kidnappers collected over 20 million Naira (about US$ 133,000) in ransom.
The reports said the kidnappers had asked for a ransom of US$ 1 million.
Family members said Mr. Bamigbetan, a former Chief Press Secretary to former Governor Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is in good health.
Kidnapping for ransom is rampant in southern Nigeria, with the abductors targetting the rich and their family members.
Abducted persons are usually freed unharmed after the payment of huge amounts in ransom, but such payments are rarely publicly acknowledged.
The passage of laws stipulating the death penalty for convicted kidnappers in several states has failed to deter what has now become a multi-million-naira business.
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