Kidnappers Demand ₦500 Million for Abducted Kwara Construction Workers

Bandits have slapped a ransom demand of ₦500 million on the families of five road construction workers kidnapped in Kwara State earlier this month.

The victims—Ademola Afolabi, Abdullahi Lade, Emmanuel Okuwadare Kayode, Fatai Akin, and their driver, Yusuf—were seized from a state government construction site along the Sabaja/Owa-Onire Road in Isin Local Government Area on December 15, 2025.

Speaking to journalists in Ilorin on Monday, the distressed families, represented by Mr. Dare Boyinbogun, accused the Kwara State Government of neglect. They revealed that the kidnappers have established contact, issuing the colossal ransom demand.

“Since that moment, our lives have been suspended between hope and despair. They demanded the sum of 500 million from us. How are we going to raise that?” Boyinbogun lamented.

He described the abducted men as innocent workers contributing to state development, not criminals. “They went to work believing they would return home safely. Instead, their families have been thrown into anguish and despair,” he added.

While acknowledging security agencies’ efforts, Boyinbogun stressed that time is running out, with each hour deepening the trauma for wives, children, and elderly dependents.

“Many of these families have no other source of income. Beyond fear for their lives, there is now hunger, psychological distress and total uncertainty,” he stated.

The families made a fervent appeal for the state government and security operatives to treat the abduction as a top-priority emergency, intensify rescue efforts, provide welfare support, and strengthen security on rural construction sites.

In a direct plea to the captors, Boyinbogun said, “These men are fathers, sons and brothers. Please release them unharmed.”

The emotional toll was underscored by Idayat Lade, a wife of one victim, who tearfully pleaded for her husband’s release and revealed she suffered a miscarriage due to the trauma.

In a related development, Kwara State Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, has ordered the police to identify and prosecute hoodlums who attacked women protesters near the Government House in Ilorin during the Christmas holiday. The governor’s spokesperson, Rafiu Ajakaye, stated that peaceful protest is a democratic right and denounced the assault.

Ajakaye also noted the governor’s recent security initiatives, including deploying newly-trained armed forest guards to flush out criminals from forests across the state.