Ekiti state governor, Biodun Oyebanji, has lauded President Bola Tinubu for the release of kidnapped pupils and teachers of Apostolic Faith Nursery and Primary School, Emure Ekiti.
The governor, who thanked the president for his strategic intervention and concern since the incident happened, lauded the security agencies for their collaborative efforts during the search for the pupils.
The schoolchildren and their teachers, who were kidnapped last Monday, were released in a forest between Owo and Akoko in the Ondo state in the wee hours on Sunday.
However, the driver of the school bus identified as Taye Rasaki was reportedly killed by the kidnappers.
Oyebanji, in a statement by his special adviser on media, Yinka Oyebode, directed the commissioner for health and human services, 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.