Security Forces Rescue Kidnapped Ekiti LG Vice Chairman

ADO-EKITI — The Vice Chairman of Ilejemeje Local Government Area of Ekiti State, Mrs. Grace Ogunleye, has been rescued alive and unhurt following a fierce, coordinated assault by a joint security task force.

​Ogunleye was intercepted by heavily armed gunmen on Wednesday evening along the notorious Ipere–Iludun Ekiti Road while returning from an official assignment. Her abandoned SUV, found riddled with bullet holes by the roadside with her mobile phones switched off, had triggered widespread panic across the state’s political landscape.

​Tactical Pressure Forces Bandits to Flee

​The Ekiti State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Sunday Abutu, confirmed the successful rescue operation on Thursday morning. He revealed that the breakthrough was achieved through the relentless tracking of the abductors into the vast forest reserves bordering Ekiti and Kwara states.

​According to military intelligence sources, the rescue operation was executed by a combined team of the Nigerian Army, the Nigeria Police Force, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), and local hunters.

​”The breakthrough came as a result of a joint operation by the police, the military, and other security agencies who embarked on a high-stakes rescue mission,” Abutu stated. “Faced with superior firepower and sustained tactical pressure from the ground and aerial surveillance, the hoodlums were forced to abandon the council boss and flee deep into the hinterland.”

​The State Commissioner of Police, Michael Falade, has ordered an aggressive manhunt and a full-scale forensic investigation to unmask the identity of the criminal syndicate operating along that axis.

ADVERTISEMENT

​The Dark Shadow Over Ilejemeje

​While local residents erupted in celebration over Ogunleye’s safe return, her abduction has once again cast a harsh spotlight on the rapidly deteriorating security architecture of rural communities in Ekiti State.

​The Ilejemeje local government corridor has increasingly become a hotbed for coordinated banditry, cattle rustling, and ransom-driven kidnappings.

​The incident occurred less than a month after a horrific attack shook the exact same local government area. On April 28, 2026, gunmen stormed a Christ Apostolic Church (CAC) branch in Eda Oniyo during an evening revival program. The assailants shot the presiding pastor dead on the altar before herding about 15 worshippers into the forest.

​Growing Impatience Over Unresolved Kidnappings

​Despite official assurances that security forces are working around the clock, those 15 CAC church members remain in captivity till date, with families growing increasingly desperate.

​Local community leaders, speaking under the condition of anonymity, expressed frustration that high-profile political figures receive rapid, aggressive military interventions, while ordinary citizens are often left to languish in kidnappers’ dens for weeks.

​Traditional rulers within the Ilejemeje axis have renewed their desperate appeals to Governor Biodun Oyebanji to establish permanent military checkpoints along the inter-local government road networks. For now, Mrs. Ogunleye has been reunited with her family, but the dark cloud of insecurity continues to hang heavily over the rural landscapes of Ekiti.