By Suleiman Anyalewechi
No fewer than 42 suspects, mostly illegal miners, have been apprehended by the Police in connection with the attack and kidnap of a Kwara Monarch.
The Source reports that a newly installed Oba Salman Olatunji Aweda, the Traditional Ruler of Olayinka Community, in Ifelodun Local Council, Kwara North Senatorial District, and his brother, were on Saturday evening April,18, whisked away by heavily armed hoodlums after attacking his Palace.
The attack by no fewer than ten men, preceded by a visit to the Palace by some miners operating in the area.
Speaking on the development on Monday, April 20, 2026, the Kwara State Commissioner of Police, CP Adekimi Ojo, informed that the arrest of the miners is part of ongoing investigations into the attack at the palace, and the subsequent abduction of the monarch and his brother.
According to the CP, preliminary findings indicated that the attackers, before taking the Monarch away, broke into his room, and demanded the money allegedly offered to him by the visiting miners.
But despite handing over the money, the attackers still took the Monarch away together with his brother, according to CP Ojo.
The CP, however, disclosed that the Monarch’s brother was later left by the abductors after he could not continue with the long trek to the camp of the hoodlums due to exhaustion.
According to the CP, the Monarch’s brother, at a point preferred to be killed than to continue with the journey.
” He told them to kill him if they wished because he was too tired to go on. But instead of killing him, they ( abductors) decided to tie him to a tree, and moved on” Ojo noted.
“They broke into his room (Monarch’s room), dragged him out, and demanded for the money the had given to him earlier”,the CP stated.
Ojo noted that the Police swiftly responded to a distress report on the incident , deploying i drones and other equipment with a view to tracking down the suspects.
However, he informed that the police, despite arresting about 42 miners, are yet to establish with certainty the involvement of any them in the attack and kidnap of the monarch.
“I cannot confirm whether those who abducted the monarch were among the illegal miners we arrested. But investigations are ongoing”, CP Ojo added.
While appealing to residents to remain calm and vigilant, the CP assured that concerted efforts are underway to locate and rescue the Monarch.
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