IBADAN — The Oyo State Government has executed a swift punitive operation, completely demolishing a notorious kidnappers’ hideout located at Lakoun, along the Ayegun–Olojuoro Road axis in Ibadan.
The demolished facility was recently used by a violent bandit syndicate to hold the biological sister of former Minister of Power, Chief Adebayo Adelabu, alongside her children, during their high-profile captivity.
The decisive action by the state executive forms part of an ongoing, zero-tolerance campaign aimed at reclaiming hijacked territories and penalizing landowners who allow their properties to serve as operational bases for criminal syndicates.
Eradicating Strategic Infrasctructure for Crime
The Lakoun outpost had been identified by security intelligence trackers as a vital processing camp where highway kidnappers hid victims grabbed along the Oluyole and Ona Ara local government corridors while negotiating multi-million Naira ransoms from terrified families.
Following the successful rescue of the former minister’s relatives, Governor Seyi Makinde’s administration invoked the state’s security and urban development statutes to flatten the entire structure, rendering the forest perimeter unusable for returning armed groups.
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| IBADAN COUNTER-KIDNAPPING RAID SUMMARY |
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| PROPERTY LOCATION | Lakoun, Ayegun–Olojuoro Road |
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| TARGET STRUCTURE | Confirmed forest holding camp |
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| HIGH-PROFILE VICTIMS | Sister and children of ex-Minister |
| | Adebayo Adelabu |
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| EXECUTIVE ENFORCEMENT | Complete demolition and forfeiture |
| | of the land under state laws. |
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Land Forfeiture as a Deterrent Against Banditry
The Ministry of Lands, Housing, and Urban Development, in coordination with the state’s joint security task force, Operation Burst, reiterated that any property—whether an abandoned building, an uncompleted structure, or a farm settlement—found to be hosting criminals will face automatic demolition and immediate forfeiture to the state government.
Local community leaders along the Ayegun–Olojuoro axis have commended the rapid enforcement, noting that the presence of deep forest pockets near expanding residential suburbs makes the area vulnerable to border incursions.
Security agencies have urged residents to implement strict neighborhood surveillance and immediately flag suspicious movements or covert forest campsites to the authorities to prevent the re-establishment of parallel criminal networks in the state’s capital.
