Kwara Police Nab 42 Miners Following Traditional Ruler’s Abduction

The Kwara State Police Command has arrested 42 suspects in a sweep of illegal mining sites in the Ifelodun Local Government area. The arrests came after the abduction of a traditional ruler in the same community, and police believe the two are connected.

The trouble started on Saturday, April 18, when kidnappers entered the palace of Oba Salman Olatunji Aweda of the Olayinka community. The timing was suspicious: miners had visited the monarch earlier that same day to pay their respects.

What happened at the palace

According to Police Commissioner Adekimi Ojo, the attackers were after money. They broke down the doors, dragged Oba Aweda from his room, and demanded cash they said the miners had given him. The monarch handed it over, but the kidnappers took him and his brother anyway, marching them into the forest.

At some point during the trek, the kidnappers abandoned the brother. He was barefoot and too slow. They tied him to a tree and kept going with the Oba. He is still missing.

42 arrests, one missing monarch

Police deployed drones to track the suspects through the terrain. The sweep produced 42 arrests of illegal miners in the area, but Commissioner Ojo was careful to note that investigators are still determining whether those arrested were directly involved in the kidnapping. All 42 are being held at the state police headquarters in Ilorin.

The connection between illegal mining and violent crime in north-central Nigeria is not new. What makes this case unusual is how brazen it was: a monarch abducted from his own palace on the same day miners came calling.

Sources: Independent Newspaper Nigeria, Chronicle NG