By Dayo Johnson
AKURE—AS the 80-year-old mother of the Culture and Tourism Commissioner, Madam Pege Esther Wewe and her 12-year-old grand daughter, Rachael Lawrence,  regained their freedom nine days after they were kidnapped, the opposition party in the state has expressed concern over perceived spate of kidnapping in the state in the last one year.

The police in the state had on Sunday said the mother of the commissioner and the grand-daughter were rescued in Sapele, Delta State by security operatives and members of the community in which they were held hostage.

Police authorities and the families of the commissioner were silent on  whether a ransom  was paid to the kidnappers or whether the kidnappers were arrested or not.
The state government had during the week vowed not to negotiate with the kidnappers who were referred to as criminals without conscience and ungodly.

A statement yesterday by the Director of Publicity of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the state Ayo Fadaka said since the advent of the Labour Party in the state “kidnapping has been on the increase.”

According to the party, “it started with the kidnapping of the wife of the Commissioner for Lands, Alhaji Basaru who was abducted along with Mrs Ali whose husband is a Permanent Secretary.

Thereafter, a daughter of the regime’s ex-Commissioner for Works, Pastor Yele Omogunwa was also abducted by kidnappers and recently the mother of the Culture and Tourism Commissioner, Tola Wewe was abducted along with her grand daughter and both of them were released, recently.

“Permit us to state that these kidnappings were alien to our state until Dr Olusegun Mimiko became governor, even at the height of the perpetration of kidnapping by the Niger Delta militants, this development never spread to Ondo State.”

“It is a crime that the Labour Party either deliberately or otherwise introduced into our society, thus it is indeed time for it to begin to reappraise itself with a view to finding the panacea to this emerging crime in our state before it becomes endemic and a common happenstance in our clime.”

It could be recalled that no fewer than 10 gun-wielding militants invaded the home of the Commissioner and kidnapped her 80-year-old mother Madam Pege Esther Wewe and her 12-year old grand daughter.

The release of the mother of Chief Tola Wewe, according to Police PRO, Adeniran Aremu was sequel to the cooperation received from members of the community in which they were held captive.

Vanguard gathered that the community whose identity was not mentioned reported strange movement and faces in the area to the security operatives who swung into action and rescued the captives.

Police authorities in the state have condemned the development, describing it as “barbaric.”

Reacting to the development, the state government through the Information Commissioner, Ranti Akerele said “it is the height of inhuman action and depth of human wickedness to have kidnapped a 80-year-old woman from the comfort of her home.

The government of Ondo State condemn the action and is leaving no stone unturned to secure the release of the woman who incidentally is the mother of a high ranking state official.

Vanguard learnt that the militants said to have been hired from neighbouring states in the Niger Delta invaded the residence of the mother of the Commissioner in a commando-like brandishing sophisticated weapons.

They reportedly came at about 6pm in two speed boats to Sabome, the country home of the commissioner where they picked up their victims without any resistance.

Vanguard gathered that on arrival they started shooting sporadically to scare away people in the area after which they went straight for the 80- year-old mother of the Commissioner and her grand daughter.