Facts have emerged that the parents of the three students of Babington Junior Seminary School, Ikorodu, Lagos, who were abducted on February 25, 2016, paid N5.6m ransom to the kidnappers.
The father of one of the victims, Venerable Olusa Ayo, revealed in his statement to the police, that the kidnappers initially demanded N200m for the release of the girls.
He said the abductors, however, after agreeing to collect N15m, made him merry-go-round to ensure he was not being followed by security agents.
He said, “On the morning of March 1, at about 11am, I received a call through which my daughter informed me about the abduction. She said three students, including herself were abducted at gunpoint in the midst of sporadic shooting. She further advised me to contact the school authorities.
Facts have emerged that the parents of the three students of Babington Junior Seminary School, Ikorodu, Lagos, who were abducted on February 25, 2016, paid N5.6m ransom to the kidnappers.
The father of one of the victims, Venerable Olusa Ayo, revealed in his statement to the police, that the kidnappers initially demanded N200m for the release of the girls.
He said the abductors, however, after agreeing to collect N15m, made him merry-go-round to ensure he was not being followed by security agents.
He said, “On the morning of March 1, at about 11am, I received a call through which my daughter informed me about the abduction. She said three students, including herself were abducted at gunpoint in the midst of sporadic shooting. She further advised me to contact the school authorities.
Kidnappers of a senior magistrate in Edo State simply identified as Hassana are yet to demand ransom payment.
Hassana and two others were abducted on Tuesday along the Benin-Auchi express road while she was going to her station at Ehor, headquarters of Uhunmwode local government.
Her police orderly whose name was given as Marcus was shot and is still receiving treatment at an undisclosed hospital.
Family sources of the Magistrate confirmed to reporters that the kidnappers were yet to contact the family.
Meanwhile, police has intensified efforts to secure the release of the Magistrate
Exactly six days after three female students were abducted from Babington Macaulay Junior Seminary (BMJS), Ikorodu, THISDAY gathered that they have been finally released.
Their release came a day after the Inspector General of Police (IGP) deployed the Intelligence Response Team to support the Lagos State Command.
As at Saturday, the Force Public Relations Officer, ACP Bisi Kolawole had said they were making progress on the kidnap of the girls.
Confirming their release, the Lagos state Public Relations Officer, SP Badmus said the police also arrested some of the suspects.
•Police begin manhunt for 25-year-old NYSC member taken since Wednesday
By Soni Daniel, Northern Region Editor & Kingsley Omonobi
Fear has gripped passengers using the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja (NAIA) following the invasion of the facility by kidnappers and other criminals posing as commercial transport operators.
Sunday Vanguard learnt that the men, who have laid siege to the airport and environs, kidnapped a National Youth Corps Service member and daughter of a serving House of Representatives member from Edo State last Wednesday.
The NYSC member, Eghonghon Jessica Edionwele, the second daughter of Chief Joe Edionwele, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party representing Esan West, Esan Central and Igueben federal constituency of Edo State has not been found.
Eghonghon, a graduate of physiotherapy from Ambrose Ali University, Ekpoma, is serving in Ibadan and had flown with the 4pm flight of Arik Air from Lagos to Abuja to join his father, when she was taken by her captors.
The victim reportedly boarded a vehicle from the NAIA to the Area One residence of her father but was never taken to the house by the driver who picked from the airport.
She was feared to have boarded a commercial vehicle known as ‘One Chance’ operated by kidnappers and armed robbers, who simply railroad their victims to their hideouts and rob or kill demand heavy ransom as a condition for release.
Findings indicated that although the NYSC member landed at the NAIA at exactly 5.15pm that Wednesday, her whereabouts remained unknown while her phones were also switched off.
The father, who spoke to Sunday Vanguard, said her daughter was expected to arrive at her Abuja home around 6pm that Wednesday, regretting that nothing had been heard from her since then.
Sunday Vanguard learnt that although the captors of the 25-year-old had not established any contact with the family, some people had been using her Automated Teller Machine (ATM) card to withdraw money from her account.
As at last night, N30,000 had been withdrawn from Eghonghon’s account.
The FCT police, where the matter had been lodged by the family, said they were aware of the development but declined to give further details.
The FCT Police Command spokesman, Mr. Wilson Inalegwu, said he had no further information to give on the matter, when our correspondent called him, yesterday, evening.
Police operatives in Edo State are on the trail of three suspected kidnappers who also killed their victims after collecting ransom.
Police Inspector General, Solomon Arase
Among the victims of the kidnappers is Prof. Paul Erie, a Professor of Agricultural Economics and Extension at the Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Edo State.
The remains of Prof. Erie was on October 1 exhumed from a forest at Igbanke village in Orhionmwon local government area of the state, where the kidnappers used to keep, kill and bury their victims.
The varsity don was abducted on June 16 along Agbor-Uromi road while on his way to his residence at Igbanke.
His abductors collected huge ransom as payment but failed to release their victim.
A statement signed by the state’s police Public Relations Officer, DSP Stephen Onwochei, said the fleeing suspects would be arrested and prosecuted.
Onwochei in the statement said the police made little progress in the search for Prof. Erie until September 7 when two Chinese nationals were successfully released from their abductors.
He said it was the activities of a special intervention team set up by the state’s Commissioner of Police, Chris Ezike that led to the arrest of five suspects.
Names of the suspects were given as Awulu Sunday a.k.a Saseki, Lucky Owuadegbe, Jeremiah Amayo, Chucks Edobor and Stephen Usiagwu.
Onwochei explained that one of the suspects confessed to the kidnap and killing of Prof. Erie and volunteered to take the police to where Erie was buried.
ABUJA—The Inspector General of Police, Solomon Arase, said yesterday that the police authorities were not privy to the fact that the family of former Secretary to Government of the Federation, SGF, Chief Olu Falae, who was freed by his kidnappers at Owo, Ondo State last week, paid ransom, saying such payment amounted to encouraging crime.
Police Inspector General, Solomon Arase
The IGP also advised families who might find themselves in such situation in the future to desist from paying ransom since it was not a guarantee that the victim would come out alive.
In a statement issued directly by his office, titled ‘RE-RANSOM PAYMENT BY FAMILY OF CHIEF OLU FALAE’ IGP Arase said: “The office of the Inspector General of Police has been inundated with enquiries on claims by Chief Olu Falae and his family that a ransom was paid to his abductors following the kidnapping incident involving him on September 21 and 24, 2015.
”As a law enforcement agency guided by the rule of law and professional ethics, we do not under any circumstances encourage the payment of ransom to kidnappers or other criminals as it is tantamount to rewarding crime and motivating other criminals to follow that part.
”As such, the police was not in any way privy to any arrangement that would have led to payment of ransom by the elder statesman or his family. For the respected Chief to declare that he paid a ransom is therefore demotivating news.
”Our approach was a professional response to what we saw as a crime against a respected national personality known to embrace peace and who has dedicated his valuable life to selfless service of our nation.
”The Police under the leadership of the Inspector General of Police deployed our unique intelligence and operational capabilities, including Police helicopters on aerial surveillance.
”Our intelligence and operational teams comprising Intelligence response teams (Special Anti-Kidnapping Unit), Conventional and Mobile Policemen were deployed for rescue operation.
”They followed the path from the point of kidnap at his farm at Ilodo, along Igbatoro road in Akure, and trailed the hoodlums through bushes to Owo in Ondo State. In the process, we were able to identify the major actors and currently, high level Police activities are being emplaced to apprehend and bring them to justice.
”As professionals, it is our conviction that the unprecedented massive deployment of Police resources and men to support search and rescue operation put pressure on the criminals to release the elder statesman.
”This is much so, that history has shown that even when ransom is proven to have been paid, the life or safe return of a kidnap victim may not be guaranteed. The primary interest of the Police in this instance and granted the circumstance of this incident was the safe rescue of Chief Olu Falae which was achieved.
”Whatever the family did as regards the payment of ransom was outside the knowledge and consent of the Police and at this point, we wish to advise that in future that families who fall victims of such acts should rather work closely with the police component of the rescue initiatives so that we can achieve the primary purpose of rescuing the victim alive instead of wittingly or unwittingly giving the impression of encouraging criminal activity by rewarding criminals with payment of ransom.”
”In this instance, having confirmed that ransom was paid to the abductors, the police will be interested in widening their investigative scope with a view to exploring the lead further with a view to knowing how the ransom was paid and to whom such payment was made.
”If the payment was perfected through bank transactions, the police has the capacity to track such transactions and will be liaising with the bank to enable us trace the cash and apprehend the perpetrators. This could be an added lead that could strengthen on-going post kidnapping efforts of the police.
”The Inspector General of Police wishes to reassure Nigerians to strengthening and enhancing the safety and security of its citizens while counting on Nigerians to continue to support and work in strong synergy with the police towards the achievement of our statutory mandate.”
AKURE—AFTER four days in the kidnappers den, the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, Chief Oluyemisi Falae who was yesterday escorted back home by security operatives said he slept on the floor for four days and trekked several kilometers to get to the hideout of his abductors.
Olu Falae
Falae said this while narrating his ordeal in the hands of his abductors to the state governor, Dr Olusegun Mimiko who visited him after he was excorted home by the Inspector General of Police, IGP, Solomon Arase at about 4.14pm in a black Police SUV, marked NPF 03-23.
The IGP rode in another Police SUV with number plate NPF 8713 C.
Injury on left elbow
The former Minister who had a wound on his left elbow looked frail and spoke in hushed tones while telling the governor and his family members his experience. Falae confirmed that his abductors were the Fulani herdsmen who invaded his farm on Monday.
According to him, after he was kidnapped he was made to trek with the herdsmen from his farm located at Ilado in Akure North council area of the state to Owo, which is another council area in the state.
Falae told the governor that for the four days he was with the Fulani herdsmen he slept on bare ground and trekked several kilometers throughout the night to get to the hideout of the kidnappers.
According to him, when his family offered to pay N2 million, his abductors said: “Is it Boko Haram that your family wants to give N2 million?”
He said it was an experience that he would never forget in his entire lifetime.
Arriving home
Immediately he arrived his residence, his personal physician who was waiting gave him medication.
Vanguard gathered that the Fulani herdsmen dropped Chief Falae in front of Joyland Hotel in Owo and the security operatives later picked him up from there to Akure.
It was gathered that the family and the security operatives had to appeal to the owner of the hotel to allow the politician have a change of clothes in their room.
His Personal Assistant, Captain Moshood Raji (retd), took back the cloth he wore for four days in the kidnappers den to his residence in Akure.
The politician was accompanied to his Oba-Ile residence by the IGP, the Commissioner of Police, CP Mike Ogbodu, after he was picked up in Owo where his abductors reportedly dropped him.
A family source later informed Vanguard that their father said that any time he was exhausted, the eight herdsmen, used to back him one after the other until they got to Owo.
IGP Arase speaks
In an interview after he accompanied Falae home, IGP Arase said: “The important thing now is that Baba Falae is back home safe and sound according to the mandate given to me by the President.
“President Muhammadu Buhari gave me a mandate and that is what I have done exactly, rescuing Baba Falae and bringing him back home safe and sound.’’
He vowed that the Police will continue to battle insecurity frontally.
According to him; “We are going to diversify our strategy so that hoodlums will not overwhelm the state.
‘’We will continue to degrade, catch and bring them to book.
He said that no ransom was paid and that nobody has been arrested.
Asked about where the victim was rescued, the IGP said it was a security matter and not meant for public consumption.
Mimiko
Speaking with newsmen after meeting with Chief Falae, Ondo State governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko who arrived the residence at about 4.35pm thanked God that the politician is back safe and sound.
Mimiko said he was worried and prayed that Chief Falae should come back home safely.
He said that he was worried that the issue of kidnapping was taking a dangerous dimension in Nigeria, saying “we must tackle this in wider dimension that somebody of his pedigree was taken away while working on his farm.”
Dependable sources said that the family concluded the ransom agreement with the kidnappers on Wednesday and they were asked to pick him up in Lokoja, Kogi State.
But the kidnappers later called that he would not be released until yesterday ostensibly to beat any security tab on them.
It was after they reportedly dropped him in Owo that they told the family to pick him up in front of the hotel.
Falae’s children and newsmen
Meanwhile, the politician’s children were hostile to newsmen, ordering them out of the compound after which the gate was shut against them.
The politician’s daughters called journalists names, saying they did not need the exposure given to their father’s travail.
Vanguard gathered authoritatively that the family paid a ransom running into several millions of Naira, but the sources refused to disclose how much. Police on the other hand, however, denied ransom payment.
Political associates of the politician trooped to his residence to welcome him back.
The Primate of the Anglican Church, Most Revd. Nicholas Okoh on Wednesday, led over 180 Bishops to pray for the release of Chief Falae at their meeting which was held in Akure, the Ondo State capital.
Negotiation is still going on between the family of a former Minister of Finance, Chief Olu Falae, and his abductors as the latter has reduced the ransom demanded for his release from N100m to N90m.
Olu Falae
It was learnt that the family had, however, been able to raise a sum N2m, which was reportedly rejected by the kidnappers.
A family source said the abductors called the family on Monday and said the family should raise N90m if they could not afford the N100m earlier demanded.
“At the time they called us on Monday night, they said they could only reduce the ransom to N90m, but we begged them to collect N2m, which they rejected.
“They said they would call us back today (Tuesday), but as I am talking to you. they have yet to do that,” the source said.
When contacted on the telephone, the Public Relations Officer of the state Police Command, Mr. Wole Ogodo, said the police were still making efforts to ensure that the victim, a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, was released alive .
However, the Personal Assistant to Falae, Mr. Moshood Raji, alleged that Fulani herdsmen were behind the kidnap of his boss, noting that there had been incessant face-off between the herdsmen and the Afenifere Chieftain over their frequent invasion of Falae’s farm.
He said, “The Fulani herdsmen always invade the farm and this has caused a lot of problem between them and baba (Falae).
“Some weeks ago, we arrested some of them and detained them at the state command headquarters.
“There was a time that the secretary of the Fulani community told baba to erect a fence around his big farm so that his men would not be entering it with their cattle. He also threatened that baba should ensure that nothing happened to his people and their cows.”
Meanwhile, the Ondo State House of Assembly has condemned the abduction of Falae.
The House, at a plenary presided over by the Speaker, Jumoke Akindele, also called on security agencies to bring to book those behind the “dastardly act.
Akindele said the kidnap of Falae, the National Chairman of the Social Democratic Party, was uncalled for, having contributed immensely to the state and the nation at large.
The Speaker also called on the Federal Government to consider the 2014 confab report which recommended state police as the solution to increasing cases of insecurity.
In the same vein, the state Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Mr. Isaac Kekemeke, called on the state government and security agencies to ensure that the abductors were arrested.
Kekemeke, in a statement, said, “The state government must regulate the activities of these itinerant heardsmen, just as it regulates citizen’s use of public utilities.
“ These lawless herdsmen, if they must live in Ondo State, cannot be law unto themselves.”
In a related development, the South West farmers, popularly known as Agbekoya, on Tuesday demanded an unconditional release of Falae by his abductors or risk the wrath of its members across Yorubaland.
The farmers, under the aegis of All Farmers Association of Nigeria, South-West geo-political zone, also issued a 24-hour ultimatum to the abductors.
The AFAN S/W Zonal Coordinator, Chief Olusegun Dasaolu, announced the ultimatum in Abeokuta on Tuesday in company with the secretary of the association, Ogunjinmi Abiodun.
Dasaolu said, “The association is not unaware of the running battle between Falae and the Fulani herdsmen.
“We are ready to mobilise all farmers in the entire region to comb everywhere in the entire Yorubaland in search of Chief Falae.”
He noted that whatever affected Chief Falae on his farm could also affect any of the farmers in the geo-political zone.
He also appealed to Fulani farmers who had been living peacefully with their host communities across the South-West to join hands with AFAN in search of Chief Falae.
Dasaolu also called on security agencies to, as a matter of urgency, ensure that Chief Falae was released unconditionally and unhurt.
He said, “AFAN is not taking it lightly with the abductors; it is absurd, unacceptable.
“Our utmost interest is that Chief Falae should be released unhurt and unconditionally.
A former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Chief Olu Falae, has been kidnapped by gunmen on Monday on his farm at Ilado village in the Akure North Local Government Area of Ondo State.
The incident occurred on the day the former presidential candidate of the All Peoples Party clocked 77.
Olu Falae
It was gathered that the gunmen, numbering 20, invaded the farm at about 12.30pm, beat up Falae, who is also a former Minister of Finance, and his workers before whisking him away in their vehicle and heading towards the state forest reserve.
Efforts to meet Chief Falae’s wife, Rachael, or any member of his family, were unsuccessful as of the time of filing this report.
But the spokesman for the state Social Democratic Party, Mr. Remi Olayowola, said the abductors had contacted the family and demanded N100m as ransom.
He said, “The kidnappers have called baba’s wife and they demanded N100m, which they said must be paid between today (Monday) and tomorrow (Tuesday) before he could be released. They said baba is in their custody hale and hearty, but the money has to be paid before they would free him.”
The Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Wole Ogodo, said it had not been established whether the septuagenarian was kidnapped or not.
He, however, confirmed that some Fulani herdsmen invaded the farm and attacked Falae and his workers.
He said, “We cannot say it is a case of kidnapping yet because the information I have said some Fulani herdsmen invaded the farm, beat up everybody on the farm, including Chief Falae. Some of the workers were injured by the attackers.”
Ogodo added that the command had deployed over 50 policemen, led by the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of operation, Mr. Ishola Adbullahi, in the farm to secure the release of the National Chairman of the SDP, adding that the injured workers had been taken to an undisclosed hospital for treatment.
“This is not the first time the Fulani herdsmen would attack the farm; they had come before and some of them were arrested. So, they came today (Monday) again. I don’t think it is a case of kidnapping until the team that went there comes back before we can establish whether it is a kidnapping case or not,” he said.
The state government, while reacting to the incident, said it was sad that an eminent elder statesman like Chief Falae could be abducted.
The state Commissioner for Information, Mr. Kayode Akinmade, said the state Governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, had convened an emergency security meeting to secure the release of the Afenifere chieftain.
Akinmade lamented that the act showed the level of decadence in the country and “clearly indicates that nobody is safe.”
He promised that the government would do everything possible to ensure the safety of the man.
The Secretary-General of the Pan-Yoruba Socio-Cultural Group, Afenifere, Chief Sehinde Arogbofa, when contacted on the telephone, described the incident as embarrassing.
“In fact, I don’t know what to say; but this is embarrassing,” Arogbofa said.
Meanwhile, Afenifere, in a statement by the group’s spokesperson, Mr. Yinka Odumakin, condemned the abduction of Falae, saying security agencies should “track his abductors swiftly.”
The group said the kidnap of Falae, the traditional ruler of Ilu Abo in Ondo State, “has added a frightening dimension to the state of insecurity in Nigeria.”
The statement read in part, “The kidnap of Chief Falae is coming on the heels of recent abductions of Vanguard columnist, Ms. Donu Kogbara, and Toyin, wife of Deputy Managing Director of The Sun Newspapers, Mr. Steve Nwosu.
“As kidnappers are invading the south, Boko Haram continues the festival of bloodshed in the north. These are clearly intolerable and the security forces must rise to the occasion by taking concrete steps to combat the mindless lawlessness going on across the country.
“The first responsibility of every responsible government is to secure the lives and property of citizens. We demand the immediate release of Chief Falae and call on the security agencies to track his abductors.”
“That woman is not my mother…My daddy’s name is Effiong. He is at Air Force Base”
But for the ceaseless crying of a four-month-old baby yesterday, three children may have ended up in a kidnappers’ den.
The cry of the baby, carried by Eno, the suspected kidnapper, who was accompanied by a teenager, inside an Iddo, Lagos-bound Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) vehicle, attracted other passengers.
With the woman and the teenager, a girl, were two other children—Happiness Effiong (four) and her sister, Patience (two). They claimed that all three were Eno’s children.
Worried by the baby’s cry, other women inside the bus asked Eno to breastfeed her.
But she refused. She was also unable to pet the baby to stop crying.
Suspecting her, the passengers were said to have alerted men of Iddo Police Station, Railway Terminus, who promptly arrested her and her accomplice.
At the police station, Eno again refused all entreaties to breastfeed the baby. Instead, she brought out a feeding bottle containing an orange-colour watery substance, which the baby refused to take.
Eno, who initially told the police that she lives at Iyana-Oba, Majidun in Ikorodu, later said she stays at Igando.
Asked for her husband’s phone number, she claimed she does not know it, adding that she does not have a phone.
The teenager, who she claimed to be her sister, was asked to use her own phone to call any of their family members to confirm Eno’s statement.
The unsatisfactory response from their supposed brother, who she called, prompted the police to detain them.
Although the suspects insisted Eno is the children’s mother, Happiness denied knowing either of them.
Happiness said she lives at the Air Force Base, Ikeja and gave her father’s name as Effiong. She said they were taken from their home by the woman.
“That woman is not my mother. My name is Happiness. This is my sister Patience. My daddy’s name is Effiong. He is at the Air Force Base.
“My mother and daddy are in the house. I do not know her (Eno); she is not my mother. And I do not know her,” she said while responding to questions.
Eno again changed her story, saying the children’s father is one Effiong who works as a cleaner at the Air Force Base.
She claimed Happiness rejected her because she was arrested by the Task Force on Environment few months after she gave birth to her, adding that the girl doesn’t really know her.
“They are my children, I am their mother. If you think I am lying, let us go to the Air Force Base and meet their father.
“I was arrested by former Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola when she (Happiness) was like this baby I am carrying now. Their father signed the paper for Fashola to take me away.
“It was while I was with Fashola that I gave birth to this one (Patience) and this one I’m carrying now is four months old. I have five children,
Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, has appealed to members of the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria against allowing themselves to be used by kidnappers to perpetrate evil.
Speaking on Thursday during the swearing-in of the new State Executive of the union in Ado Ekiti, the governor, who said he was once a ‘danfo driver’ appealed to the drivers to be orderly and not to be desperate.
He said, “Please, I want to commend you for contributing immensely to the development of the state’s economy, but don’t allow yourselves to be used by evil doers. You can see that some kidnappers were paraded recently. Information from them revealed that they have been using some of your members.
“I was once a driver like you. I used the money I got from driving to sponsor myself for HND at Ibadan Polytechnic, but I did not get desperate. All I’m saying is that being a driver you can make it in life. You will become what you want to become in life with hard work. Don’t join evil gang for you to get rich overnight, try and rise through the ladder like we did.”
He cautioned drivers against reckless driving, reminding them of the ‘don’t drink and drive’ rule.
“Though I am part of you, if you breach the law, I won’t save or spare you. You will be arrested and prosecuted by the security agents,” he said.
The governor, who recalled that he united the two unions — RTEAN and National Union of Road and Transport Workers — during his first term, said the occasion was a sign that good things were coming to Ekiti.
“We should emulate this kind of occasion. This is very good. We will always identify with this kind of achievements. You are doing a good job for this country. I don’t want to be the enemies of drivers, I want to be your friend.”
He also thanked the unions for standing by him during the failed impeachment plot against him by the former 19 All Progressives Congress lawmakers.
Fayose, who had earlier spoken at the 2015 Annual Conference of the Institute of Strategic Management, appealed to leaders to focus attention on how to banish poverty that is killing the potential of many Nigerians.
Speaking on the theme, ‘Strategies for Poverty Alleviation’, Fayose said his desperate bid to banish poverty in the land had propelled him to pioneer the stomach infrastructure concept that had become a brand in the country.
“In tackling poverty, the first thing to do is to empower the people. But before empowerment, you must make them look healthy through provision of food. Let them get access to you as a leader, this will give them a sense of belonging and relief.
“Some of the projects being executed by MDGs centred on poverty alleviation. Poverty has become a serious issue in Nigeria. That was why my government made the payment of salaries the first thing, because this will keep the people and the economy going.
“I receive close to 200 to 300 calls and messages daily on stomach infrastructure thing. Though 90 per cent of it is about money, we should not shy away from the fact that the concept has become a way of life in Nigeria as a good weapon to tackle poverty among the common people.”
An 80-year-old woman, Mrs. Rose Aina, has been kidnapped in Ilogbo Ekiti in Ido/Osi Local Government Area of the state.
Madam Aina was said to have been kidnapped at about 9pm on Tuesday and her whereabouts remains unknown till date.
It was gathered that efforts of search parties raised to comb the forest in the community and other neighbouring towns, so far, had been futile, a situation which has thrown the community into confusion.
The octogenarian was said to be sleeping in her room when the kidnappers struck and took her to an unknown destination.
A source said, “We have been searching for the old woman without success and nobody knows where they have taken her to.
“The kidnappers have not made any contact since then and this has heightened our fear. This is an old woman, she is a poor woman who only depends on what her children and good Samaritans give to her.
“The whole community is afraid and we now live in perpetual fear because it can happen to anybody. We are more concerned because we are no longer safe.
“In a state or country where we have police and other security agencies, this is very unfortunate.”
The Ekiti Police Public Relations Officer, Alberto Adeyemi, said the command was making efforts to secure the release of the octogenarian.
BENIN — Edo State police command has arrested 30 suspected cultists and 20 kidnappers engaged in cult activities and the kidnap of prominent persons in the state.
Cultists in Edo State
The Commissioner of Police, Samuel Adegbuyi, who disclosed this while briefing journalists on the current security situation in the state, said the kidnap suspects were intercepted by the highway patrol teams of the command at various locations in the state.
He noted that while the suspects had confessed to the crimes with 107 arms and ammunition recovered from them,15 of their victims had been rescued.
Adegbuyi disclosed that the command arraigned 227 cultists in May, 2015, saying an additional 30 suspected cultists were undergoing interrogation and would be charged to court subsequently.
“Apart from the 227 high profile cultists arraigned in court between May 2 and 9 this year, we have 20 suspects who have confessed to have kidnapped various prominent individuals in the state and even outside the state.
“Fifteen victims of kidnapping have been rescued. Nine AK47 rifles were recovered in the process. One Beretta pistol and about 60 locally made weapons as well as some paraphernalia of military outfits were also recovered,’’ he added.
He explained that as part of proactive measures by the Inspector-General of Police, several highway patrol vehicles had been deployed in locations within the state, including Benin-Lagos Road, Benin-Agbor Road, Benin-Akure Road, Auchi-Okpella Road, Ibilo, Ehor and Benin Bypass.
The CP, who described some of the suspects as “travelling criminals” not resident in Edo but who used the state as an escape route, commended the efforts of local vigilante groups, who used their knowledge of the terrain to aid the command in tracking down criminals, even at odd hours.
ABEOKUTA—Men of Ogun State Special Anti Robbery Squad, led by Officer-in-Charge, Tijani Muhammed, have arrested three pastors and a herbalist for allegedly kidnapping a United State-based Nigerian in the state.
A 70-year-old woman, Monilola Lateef, her son, Modiu, and two others were also arrested for alleged armed robbery in Abeokuta, the state capital.
Parading the suspects, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi, told newsmen that the three pastors and one herbalist belong to a five-man gang of kidnappers, who had been terrorising residents of Ijebu area of the state.
Adejobi said the suspects were arrested, Tuesday, at Ita-Marun, Ijebu Ode, by men of the state Anti-Robbery Squad.
He said the suspects, including Ganiyu Olaiya, Segun Makanjuola, Bisi Akinleye and Bayo Adekunle, were arrested for allegedly abducting a man who just retur-ned to the country from abroad.
According to him, the three Christian clerics and herbalist deceived their victim with an offer of spiritual assistance for certain personal problems he was having.
He said: “The fifth member of the gang lost his life during an exchange of fire with the police at their hideout.
“Police recovered one locally-made pistol loaded with cartridges and one Cherokee jeep with number plates LND 25 CE from the suspects.”
The police spokesman said the suspects kidnapped their victim after tricking him into their hideout.
He said 70-year-old Lateef was arrested along with the gang members for allegedly assisting his 35-year-old son, Modiu Lateef, who sustained gunshot injuries during an operation, to get treatment from a herbalist.
A woman identified as Mrs. Opeyemi Adeniran and her daughter, Oyinkansola, have been kidnapped at their residence, in the Odo-ona Elewe, area of Ibadan.
The incident happened as the Oyo State Commissioner of Police, Mohammed Katsina, inaugurated the command’s Anti-kidnapping Squad, which is headed by Usman Dimka, at the state command, Eleyele, on Saturday.
A Save Our Soul message sent by concerned friends and relatives of the family on the social media claimed that Mrs. Adeniran and her daughter were kidnapped about 8pm on Friday and driven away in an ash coloured Volkswagen Golf 3 car with number plate FKJ 238 BD.
Mrs. Adeniran’s brother, who identified himself as Mr. Tajudeen Banjo, told our correspondent that the case had been reported to the police and that the family was traumatised by the incident.
“She was kidnapped with her daughter and taken away on Friday night. Her husband is out of the country and we have reported to the police. We beg the police and the public to help us in time of this trial. My sister is an easy-going individual,” he said.
Efforts to get the reaction of the state police were futile.
SIX middle-aged men believed to political thugs are currently cooling their heels at the Anti-Kidnapping Cell of Ebonyi State Police Command Headquarters for allegedly kidnapping and torturing a local town crier, Ogbonnaya Okoro (alias Big Boy).
The victim, who is a well-known town crier, was abducted in Okposi-Okwu community in Ohaozara Local Council of the state two days ago.
The six apprehended abductors are said to belong a gang of 10 that has been terrorising communities in Ohaozara and its environs.
Narrating his ordeal in the hands of the hoodlums to The Guardian at the police headquarters in Abakaliki, Mr. Ogbonnaya Okoro, said his abductors came to his home in the late hours of Tuesday and started beating with machetes and clubs before dragging him into a waiting mini-bus.
He said that as soon as he was dragged into the mini-bus, which bore the inscription of one of the governorship candidates in the forthcoming Governorship and State House of Assembly elections, the men blindfolded him with a red cloth, which made it impossible for him to know where he was being taken.
His words: “After travelling some distance, they brought me out and started beating me. When they stopped, they asked me how much I was paid to do an announcement by another political party, saying that they would kill me if I didn’t comply with what they would ask me to do.”
The town crier further disclosed that the hoodlums brought him to the community market square and directed him to start beating the gong and telling the people that he sold his community for N5,000 and that the people should vote for the candidate of a particular party.
“While I was doing the announcement the men continued to hit me at the back with machetes and clubs,” Okoro added, saying that the beating continued until the men of Afikpo Zonal Police Command came and rescued him.
Some of the weapons found in the possession of the hoodlums included various sizes of machetes and metal axes.
When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer, Chris Anyanwu, (ASP) explained that since the matter was under the Anti-kidnapping Department of the Command, the report was yet to get to his office, assuring that he would brief the press as soon as the investigations have been wrapped up.
It would be recalled that prior to the presidential and National Assembly elections, nine people were abducted in the same Local Council by young men operating under the code name “internal security.”
ASABA—A Delta State High Court sitting at Ughelli in Delta State has sentenced one David Tamarakpo Pade to death by hanging for armed robbery and kidnapping of wife of a retired judge of the Court of Appeal, Mrs. Roli Awala.
The court also sentenced two of his accomplices to a total of 19 years in jail with hard labour for the same offence.
The court, presided over by Justice Ebiowe Tobi, found the three accused persons guilty on various counts, while delivering its verdict amidst tight security for the trial that lasted several hours.
The court proceedings were, however, intermittently inte-rrupted by several deafening sounds of explosives, which were later discovered to be sounds of traditional canon fired to herald the arrival of party leaders to a campaign rally held very close to the court premises.
Herbalist jailed
The convicted kidnappers include a popular herbalist, Moses Omiovwobese, who was sentenced to two years in jail for accessory on grounds that the kidnapped victim, 54 years old Mrs. Roli Awala was rescued from his shrine by the Police.
He was discharged and acquitted on the other four-count charge, while first accused, a 39-year-old Happy Opute, driver to the retired Court of Appeal Jurist, Honourable Justice A. P. A. Awala, was found guilty only on the count of conspiracy to commit kidnapping and was slammed with seven years jail term with hard labour.
The second accused person, David Tamarakpo Pade, was not that lucky as he was sentenced to death after being found guilty of four of the five count charges, including that of armed robbery.
An Assistant Director from Delta State Ministry of Justice had told the court that the three accused persons with two others now at large, on or about August 5, 2009, at Ireden Crescent, GRA Warri, within the Warri Judicial Division, kidnapped one Mrs. Roli Awala and held her for six days before she was rescued.
He also told the court that they robbed the victim, her husband and daughter of their mobile phone and Honda salon car, while armed with a gun.
The kidnappers were said to have asked for an initial ransom of N50 million, but later reduced it to N25 million before she could be released.
The court, however, discharged them on the count of demanding property with menace.
Personnel of the Department of State Security in Edo State have nabbed six men said to be involved in the kidnap of a former Local Government Chairman in the state, Anselm Adima.
The suspects were also said to be involved in the kidnap of a woman who was defiled in the presence of her daughter, with the pictures of the act taken. The daughter who was also a victim of the kidnappers was not defiled.
Another suspect was said to have been a fraudster who impersonated the Chief of Air Staff to hoodwink his unsuspecting victims.
Parading the suspects before Governor Adams Oshiomhole, Wednesday, Director of the state command of the State Security Service, Bello Bakori said, “this group of criminals here paraded are those involved in fraud, kidnapping, car snatching and robbery”.
He said: “the group was involved in the kidnapping of the former Transitional Committee Chairman of Esan North East Local Government Area, Mr. Anselm Adima where the sum of N3 million was paid as ransom.
“One of these boys is a notorious fraudster who goes about swindling members of the public and even impersonating the Chief of Air Staff. We have this one, Isaac Ogun collecting money from the public using the name of one Mr. Balogun and just recently, many cases have been established against him in Jos and other places and luckily he was arrested recently based on a complaint from the Airforce that someone is going about impersonating the Chief of Air Staff”.
The SSS Director further said, “Prince Nwanze, Osagie Oriarevbu, Oziegbe Akhimien, Kenneth Okosun, Ehizojie Okha were involved in the kidnapping and snatching of a car belonging to a woman who was kidnapped along with her daughter at Uromi. The victim was not only kidnapped but defiled by the suspects and the car later sold in Jos”.
While commending the SSS for a job well done, Governor Oshiomhole said, “these people we see here are very normal human beings. When people tell you their experiences, you think that they are people made in hell and listening to them, it is also clear that it is all about greed.
“Some of them are students who want to live like the boss. They want to own cars, wear the most expensive clothes. So those are apparently what have lured them into this very unfortunate thing. I think each time we are able to apprehend criminals like these, at least the point is made that the culture of impunity, is stopped, they know that something can happen and something is happening.
“It may take time but as they say, time does not run against the state. Eventually nobody commits crime and goes scot free so my appeal to our young people is you cannot be too smart as to be able to run away from your own shadow. The more you run, the more the shadow will chase you and eventually it will catch up with you”.
He appreciated the Director, officers and men of the Command for the risk they have been taking in combating crime and ensuring peace and security in the state and assured the Command of the State Government’s continued support in the fight against crime in the state.
