A housewife, Mrs Bukola Ogun, has been arrested by the Oyo State Police Command for allegedly staging her own kidnap with the intention of extorting money from her husband, and to also make the man, who is an American citizen, relocate her to the United States.
The Oyo State Commissioner of Police, Mr Abiodun Odude, who was speaking during the parade of 12 arrested suspects in the state at the Police Headquarters, Eleyele, Ibadan, said the 37-year-old businesswoman, had conspired with a two-man gang, among whom was his cousin, Kayode Adepoju, to orchestrate her own kidnap in order to fraudulently obtain money from her husband.
The police boss said the incident happened at about 7:45p.m. on Tuesday, July 4, when three armed hoodlums stormed the residence of the supposed victim and ‘kidnapped’ her to an unknown destination.
“Barely four hours later, the suspects contacted the victim’s husband, demanding for N10million as ransom as a condition for his wife’s release.
“Unknown to the husband that the kidnap was actually arranged by his wife, he reported the case to the police, and upon the receipt, operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) began a manhunt for the hoodlums.
“During intensive investigation, two suspects were arrested, and they let the cat out of the bag, as operatives were stunned to discover that the victim was the architect of the fake kidnap.
“The woman, for the three days she was away, lodged in a hotel at Imalefalafia area, Ibadan, while efforts were on to rescue her, but after two of the suspects were eventually arrested in their criminal hideout at Imalefalafia area, they confessed to the crime and the mastermind was arrested,” the police boss said.
However, while speaking, the woman, Mrs Ogun, said she called her cousin, Kayode, informing him that she wanted her husband to relocate her to the United States, so wanted to stage her own kidnap so after her rescue, her husband would be left with no option than to send her abroad.
“So I left home on Tuesday, July 4, and returned on Thursday, July 6, acting as if I was kidnapped. It was then that my husband started calling about that I had been kidnapped before finally informing the police.
“Everything is still like a child’s play; he is an American citizen and I just wanted him to relocate me to the US. I told the gang to demand for N10million from my husband; I knew he could not afford that kind of money, but just for the whole plan to look real.
“And within the three days I was away, I lodged myself in a hotel, but I regret everything now,” Mrs Ogun, who had been married to her husband for six years with two children, said.
While speaking on his role in the whole case, Mrs Ogun’s cousin, Kayode, said the woman just called her one day, informing him that she wanted to stage her own kidnap so that her husband would agree to relocate her to the United States since he is a citizen.
“So she told me to find one of my friends who has a car and we would come to her house in the evening of the day we wanted to stage the kidnap.
“When we even got to her house, she was the one who walked out herself and entered the car we brought, and we took her to the hotel where she lodged for three days.
“After that, we called her husband, asking for N10million ransom, just to make the whole plan look real, but we didn’t collect anything from him.
“However, I was arrested the following day after she returned home; policemen came to my office to arrest me, and we had no option than to tell the police the truth,” Kayode said.
The Oyo police boss, however, said that the suspects would be charged to court as soon as possible so as to serve as a less to others who might be planning such stunts.
The police were also able to arrest a gang that specialized in stealing industrial batteries from telecommunication firms’ generating sets.
According to Mr Odude, five suspects, Abayomi Gbenga (24), Ayilara Ahmed (24), Bamimore Nurudeen (32), Adedokun Opeyemi (19) and Bakare Farouk (19), had stolen about 48 inverters from telecommunication masts at Tede, Sepeteri, Igboho, Komi and Ogboro in Saki area of the state.
“The bandits, who were armed with guns, cutlasses and other dangerous weapons, attacked the companies’ security guards before carting away various inverters and other equipments belonging to the firms.
“However, following a distress call received about a robbery operation, SARS operatives launched a manhunt for the hoodlums, and the efforts yielded a result when three suspects were arrested along Ago-Are/Sabe road, and the stolen property recovered from them.
“Further investigation carried out led to the arrest of other suspects from their criminal hideouts,” the police boss said, while revealing that one locally-made pistol, 48 inverters, a Peugeot 505 saloon car with registration number ET246APP, a long cutlass and three iron cutters were recovered from the suspects.
The police commissioner said that 12 suspects, included nine suspected armed robbers and three kidnappers, while four arms, 23 ammunition and two vehicles, among others, were recovered.
