The palace of the Emir of Lafiagi, headquarters of Edu Local Government Area of Kwara State and the office of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency in the town were on Monday set ablaze as youths protested the rising cases of kidnapping in the area.

Tension gripped the Lafiagi community yesterday following a protest by youths in the community to express their feelings on the abduction of a prominent agro-chemical dealer, widely known as Alhaji Chemical, on Sunday.

Alhaji Chemical was reportedly abducted from his home in the Taiwo area of the town around 1am on Sunday by gunmen suspected to be bandits.

The attackers, said to have arrived on motorcycles, overpowered local vigilantes with heavy gunfire before abducting the businessman.

The development has, however, sparked fresh anxiety in the Lafiagi community, where residents say cases of kidnapping have become increasingly frequent.

In response to the latest incident, angry residents staged protests on Monday, blocking roads, burning used tyres and demanding urgent government intervention.

Protesters in a viral video cited the recent abduction of a young man operating a point-of-sale business as further evidence of growing insecurity in the area.

Residents urged security agencies to intensify patrols, track down the kidnappers, and ensure the safe return of those abducted.

The state Commissioner of Police, Adekimi Ojo, confirmed the incident on Monday.

Ojo who said that he was in Lafiagi alongside Brigade Commander of 22 Brigade, Sobi, Ilorin stated that the protest was organised by some miscreants who damaged some louvres in the Emir’s palace and torched the office of the NDLEA in the community.

“The miscreants who ran away on sighting the police and the soldiers also freed four suspects who were in detention at the NDLEA office, Lafiagi.

“As I’m speaking with you now, the police, soldiers, hunters and the local vigilantes are in the bush in Lafiagi in search of those kidnapped by the bandits and the Brigade Commander has addressed them”, the police commissioner told our correspondent in a telephone conversation.