The Governor of Ekiti State, Mr Biodun Oyebanji, has hinged the release of the kidnapped pupils and teachers of Apostolic Faith Nursery and Primary School, Emure Ekiti on the support of President Bola Tinubu, the security agencies, and Ekiti people in general.
The children and their teachers, who were kidnapped on Monday, were released in the early hours of Sunday.
However, the driver of the school bus was killed in the custody of the kidnappers.
Oyebanji, in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media, Yinka Oyebode, while congratulating the children and their families, thanked President Tinubu “for giving specific directives that put the search and rescue mission on top gear”.
Oyebode stated that the governor also “thanked the security agencies for their collaborative efforts during the search for the students, just as he extended appreciation to Ekitikete home and abroad for their support during the security situation experienced last week.
Oyebode stated that Oyebanji, given the children’s traumatic experience in the kidnappers’ den, had directed the Commissioner for Health and Human Services, Dr Oyebanji Filani, to take the children to the state Teaching Hospital, Ado Ekiti for proper medical treatment and post-trauma therapy.
He stated, “The governor, who kept vigil with Senate Leader, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele till 3.00 am to ensure the release of the children, acknowledges the solidarity shown by his colleagues governors, former governors of the state as well as religious leaders and traditional rulers.
“He also thanks members of the Ekiti State Caucus in the National Assembly and members of the state House of Assembly for their support, saying, ‘And more importantly, we thank God for everything’”.
The governor, however, restated his administration’s determination to stamp out crime and criminality from the state by making the environment unbearable for criminals operating under whatever guise.
Oyebanji, who reiterated that the killers of the two Ekiti obas would be fished out and made to face the maximum weight of the law, urged people of the state to remain vigilant and report any suspicious movement in their communities to the authorities.
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