A Magistrate court sitting in Ado-Ekiti has remanded the Vice Chairman of Ilejemeje Local Government Area, Grace Ogunleye, over allegations that she staged her own abduction, weeks after her reported kidnapping triggered concerns about insecurity in the area.
Penpushing reports that the Ekiti State Police Command Public Relations Officer Sunday Abutu confirmed that Ogunleye was arraigned on Wednesday alongside three others before the court following investigations into a reported abduction of the council vice chairman.
The prosecutor, Akinwale Oriyomi during the proceedings, told the court that the case file had been forwarded to the Director of Public Prosecutions for legal advice and requested that the defendants be remanded pending further action.
Penpushing further reports that the Chief Magistrate, Abayomi Adeosun, subsequently ordered that the defendants be remanded at the Ado-Ekiti Correctional Centre, and the development marks a dramatic twist in a case that initially sparked fears of worsening insecurity in Ilejemeje Local Government Area.
The embattled vice chairman it would be recalled was declared missing on May 20, 2026 after her vehicle was reportedly discovered abandoned along the Ipere–Iludun Ekiti Road, at the time, local government officials said she had been abducted by suspected gunmen while travelling to Ido-Ekiti after attending an official engagement in Ilejemeje.
Penpushing also reports that the incident came barely three weeks after suspected gunmen reportedly kidnapped church worshippers in Eda Oniyo, located in Ilejemeje Local Government Area.
The Director of Information and Civic Orientation in the council, Falade Sunday, Confirming the earlier report said security agencies had launched efforts to locate and rescue the vice chairman.
‘The Vice Chairman of Ilejemeje Local Government, Mrs Grace Ogunleye, has reportedly been kidnapped along Ipere–Iludun Ekiti road. According to reports, her vehicle was later found abandoned while her whereabouts remain unknown’, Sunday said at the time.
Penpushing reports that Ogunleye was later found unharmed following a security operation, however, police investigations subsequently took a different direction after allegations emerged that the abduction might have been staged.
The authorities later alleged that the incident was orchestrated to raise money to offset financial obligations and political commitments, an allegation which attracted public attention after a Facebook user, Festus Ojo, claimed that the vice chairman had allegedly arranged her own kidnapping because she was unable to fulfil commitments made to a politician after receiving funds.
Penpushing further reports that police have not publicly linked their case to the specific social media allegations, but investigators proceeded with criminal charges following their inquiry, however, as a result of the emergence of the allegations, Chairman of Ilejemeje Local Government Area, Pius Alaba Dada, condemned the alleged conduct and called for due process.
The chairman in a previous statement described the development as “shocking, disturbing, and entirely unacceptable, for the vice chairman to have organized a self-kidnapping stressing that no public official would be shielded from accountability.
‘The attention of the Executive Chairman of Ilejemeje Local Government has been drawn to the unfortunate incident involving the Vice Chairman, who was reportedly involved in a self-kidnapping arrangement and subsequently apprehended by the relevant security authorities,” Dada said.
“We wish to assure the good people of Ilejemeje Local Government that no individual is above the law. The law must take its full course without interference, irrespective of status or political position,” he added.
Penpushing also reports that the chairman commended security agencies for their investigation and urged residents to avoid spreading unverified information capable of causing tension within the local government area.
Meanwhile, as at the time of filing this report, and while the embattled vice chairman remained in correctional centre, the case is expected to proceed after legal advice is issued by the Director of Public Prosecutions.
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