Bandits Release Remaining Olle-Bunu Kidnap Victims In Kogi After Collecting Motorcycles As Final Ransom

By: Abudu Olalekan

They’re finally home. The last three people snatched from Olle-Bunu community in Kogi State. Released. This past Saturday, January 31st. Their freedom came with a price tag, and it wasn’t just cash this time. Reportersroom can confirm the kidnappers let them go only after collecting three motorcycles. As a final ransom. It ends a grueling ordeal for the community, but it just exposes everything wrong with the situation.

Think about it. This wasn’t some quick transaction. Negotiations dragged for days. A local platform, Egbe Mekun Parrot, broke the news of their release. See, the bandits had already freed some victims earlier. But they held onto these three. Kept them as leverage. Why? Because despite previous ransoms paid—and let’s be clear, ransoms were paid—they wanted more. The community had to scramble again. The goalposts just keep moving.

It’s become a terrifying pattern in Kabba/Bunu Local Government. The security challenges here are growing by the day. Attacks, kidnappings, it’s almost routine now. Residents talk about it in whispers. They lament the absence of any sustained security presence. These are rural communities, feeling utterly exposed. When the state’s protection feels like a rumor, what are people supposed to do?

Here’s the backstory. Earlier, Reportersroom had reported that five women from the same Olle-Bunu community were freed. That freedom cost N12 million. Twelve million naira! The community raised it themselves. Can you imagine? Families of the victims, community leaders, ordinary residents all digging deep into their pockets. A collective effort just to meet a criminal’s demand. It’s a devastating strain on an already struggling populace.

But even after that huge sum changed hands, the bandits didn’t let everyone go. They kept three back. Of course they did. It’s a classic tactic. Maximize profit, instill maximum fear. For the families of those still held, those days after the first release were pure agony. Were their loved ones even alive? Would the community find more to give? The fear for their safety was a physical weight.

And what was the final demand? Not more millions, but motorcycles. Three of them. It’s specific. It tells you something about the operations of these criminals. Motorcycles are utility vehicles in these areas. For transportation, for logistics, maybe even for future crimes. It’s a commodity ransom. The community, desperate and exhausted, found them. Handed them over. And finally, their people came home.

So what do we have now? A community that is financially and emotionally drained. Criminals emboldened by yet another successful transaction. And a glaring security vacuum that forces citizens to bargain for their own safety. The release is a relief, sure. Nobody is denying that. Seeing your family member walk back home is everything.

But it’s a bittersweet victory. A traumatic one. Every ransom paid, whether in cash or kind, fuels the next kidnapping. It’s a vicious cycle the people of Olle-Bunu know all too well. They got their people back this time. But the unasked question hangs heavy in the air: who’s next? And what will the price be? The absence of a real, lasting security solution means this isn’t over. It’s just an intermission. The whole thing is just exhausting, really. And terrifying.