How palmwine tapper helped rescue kidnapped wife of Osun State Speaker

More facts have emerged about the dramatic rescue of Muibat Salam, wife of the speaker of the Osun State House of Assembly, Najeem Salam, who was abducted on Tuesday by hoodlums.

A family source said revealed that Mrs. Salaam was smuggled out of the state in a trailer and was rescued at Ogunmakin, a village off the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

The source said:

“A palm wine tapper on top of a palm tree noticed the kidnappers, who were between 28 and 40 years old, with a lone woman in the back cabin of the trailer. He alerted a vigilance group and they accosted the kidnappers. An argument ensued and resulted in a gun battle between the kidnappers and members of the vigilance group.

“Two of the kidnappers were killed. Three were apprehended, but the rest escaped. Alhaja was rescued unhurt. A towing vehicle operator in the village phoned a member of the Oyo State House of Assembly and notified him of the development.

“The lawmaker contacted Oyo State Assembly Speaker Monsurat Sunmonu, who contacted Najeem. Alhaja said her kidnappers offered her bread and Lacasera, but she refused to take anything all through.”

Muibat Salaam reportedly returned to Osogbo yesterday in the company of the state director of the State Security Service (SSS), the Police commissioner and the speaker’s chief detail officer.

Her husband, Najeem Salam, released a statement through his media aide, Goke Butika, thanking the people for their support all through his family’s ordeal. He thanks the Ogun State vigilance group and all the security agencies who ensured his wife returned home safely.

The Lagos State Speaker of the House of Assembly, Adeyemi Ikuforiji congratulated his Osun State counterpart the safe return of his wife and also thanked everyone who made it happen.

Ikuforiji said, “Credit must be given to members of the Ogun State vigilance group, who displayed immense courage and patriotism to thwart the dastardly plot of the criminals.

“Their act of bravery underscores the urgent need for our nation to embrace State Police, which is capable of checking the lapses that presently exists across our great country, due to the fact that a centrally controlled police force, as we have it today, cannot solve the myriads of security challenges that face us as a nation anymore.”
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