Ibadan: How I Disguised As Trader Hawking Raw Rice, Beans In Wheelbarrow To Execute Kidnapping Business — Suspect 

 

 

By Akanni Toba

 

Members of a three-man kidnap syndicate have taken turns to recount how they used to execute their nefarious activities while people thought they were hard workers eking out a means of livelihood through legitimate means.

 

 

The suspects, who were arrested by officers of the Oyo State Police Command’s Monitoring Unit operatives, made their confessions during interrogation by the command’s commissioner, Olugbenga Ayodeji Abimbola,

 

Abimbola made the suspect’s confessions public while briefing journalists about their arrest in Ibadan on Friday.

 

Abimbola said the three suspects identified as Issiaq, Bior and Umaru, are in the command’s custody.

 

He added that two other suspects, Umoru and Sanda, are currently at large.

 

 

 

According to Abimbola, the runaway Umoru reportedly went to dig the AK-47 rifles they were operating with inside a deep forest under a bamboo tree immediately he learnt of the arrest of others, and the sites dug to exhume the hidden weapons were seen by Monitoring Unit operatives when other suspects took them there.

 

While exposing some of the successful operations the suspects had carried out  CP Abimbola said members of the kidnap gang to which Isiaq belonged went to Baabi village via Oyo Town on January 20.

 

He noted that they were armed with AK-47 rifles and abducted one Supodu Saheed while carting away  two motorcycles.

 

The CP added that a week later, on January 27, they also invaded Ayetoro Village via Oyo Town, broke into the residence of two Fulani cattle owners, Gurumo and Adamu Issa, attacked and dispossessed them of their mobile phones.

 

In addition, they carted away two motorcycles belonging to the victim’s brothers who managed to escape into the bush when they sighted the attackers.

 

The suspects also abducted Gurumo and Adamu and took them to a hideout in the forest where they demanded N30 million from their families as ransom, with a threat to kill the victims if the payment was not made or delayed.

 

“While efforts were ongoing to track the perpetrators, the family of their first victim paid N10 million, leading to his release after three days in captivity. The two other victims were released after five days following the payment of N15 million.

 

“Subsequently, the victims were invited to the Monitoring Unit, where they provided detailed accounts and useful intelligence. Discreet investigation and sustained intelligence gathering led to the arrest of three members of the syndicate in their respective hideouts.

 

 

“The suspects confessed to the crime and admitted to being armed with AK-47 rifles which they claimed were in the possession of fleeing members of the gang. They also confessed to several other kidnapping and armed robbery operations across Oyo State. Investigation is ongoing to apprehend the remaining members of the syndicate,” the police boss told journalists at the press briefing.

 

 

In his confession, Issiaq, aged 25, from Katsina State, said: “I was selling rice and beans in a wheelbarrow which I was popularly known for, but I was using that to hide my membership of the kidnap gang. No one knew my involvement in the crime. I used to go to Egbédá, Olódó and Moniya, among other markets, to sell the foodstuffs also.

 

“It was Umaru who invited me for kidnapping, but I didn’t follow the gang on the first operation. I didn’t know where the victim was picked from. However, I was the one who took food to my five gang members and the victim held hostage in the bush. I was given N500,000 out of N10 million collected as ransom.

 

 

 

“I went with the gang on the second operation and was given N1.5 million out of the N15 million ransom paid by the victim’s family members.

 

“Another Umoru, currently at large, was our gang leader. The person who had AK-47 rifles was Sanda. He had many but used to bring two with ammunition for kidnap operations.”

 

Speaking on how he was arrested, Issiaq said, “After Umaru’s arrest, he mentioned Bior as the informant. When Bior was also arrested, he told the police that I was the one who used to bring those that joined the gang and other weapons.”

 

Issiaq noted that the kidnap syndicate used to operate around Bodija to Ojoo, Egbédá and Moniya  routes