Grace Ogunleye, Vice Chairman of Ilejemeje Local Government Area in Ekiti State, has been remanded in custody after being arraigned over allegations of conspiracy and staging her own abduction.
Ogunleye appeared before a Chief Magistrate’s Court in Ado-Ekiti on Wednesday alongside three other defendants.
According to the Ekiti State Police Command, the suspects were charged following investigations into the circumstances surrounding the reported kidnapping.
During the court proceedings, prosecutor Akinwale Oriyimi informed the court that the case file had already been forwarded to the state’s Director of Public Prosecutions for legal review. He subsequently requested that the accused persons be remanded pending further action.
Chief Magistrate Abayomi Adeosun granted the request and ordered that Ogunleye and the other defendants be held at the Ado-Ekiti Correctional Centre until the next stage of the case.
The local government vice chairman was initially reported missing on May 20 after her vehicle was discovered abandoned along the Ipere–Iludun Ekiti road.
At the time, reports indicated that she had been kidnapped by armed men shortly after departing the local government secretariat.
She was later found unharmed during a security operation involving multiple agencies.
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However, police investigations later alleged that the abduction had been orchestrated. Investigators claimed the incident was staged as part of an attempt to raise money to offset personal debts and meet certain political obligations.
Reacting to the development, Pius Dada condemned the alleged act, describing it as unfortunate and damaging to public confidence.
He warned that such incidents could undermine trust in public institutions and security agencies, stressing that anyone found guilty would face the full weight of the law regardless of their position in government.