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Tag: Ransom

  • How Taraba kidnap kingpin Wadume killed victim after receiving N106.3m ransom

    How Taraba kidnap kingpin Wadume killed victim after receiving N106.3m ransom

    Six months after he was arrested in Kano, Hamisu Bala, suspected Taraba kidnap kingpin has been charged with 16 counts of terrorism, murder and kidnapping.

    From the court filings, the bedrock of the police case is the kidnapping in Takum on 16 February 2019 of a petrol dealer Usman Garba by the Wadume gang.

    The Wadume gang demanded N200million ransom. Despite that relations of the victim were able to hand over N106.3m, he was killed.

    The police stated that the prosecution would rely on the testimonies of 29 witnesses.

    “DCP Abba Kyari, CSP Baba Khali, ASP Abdulrahman Mohammed, ASP Bawa James, Insps Habila Samuel and Ilarju Joseph are the investigating police officers in this case; they will testify about their findings in the course of the investigation and will tender exhibits and documents,” the police said in their court filings.

    The arrest of Bala, better known as Wadume last year in Taraba, led to the killing of three policemen and a civilian by soldiers at a checkpoint. Wadume then escaped until his re-arrest in Kano.

    According to reports the charge was filed by Simon Lough, Anthony Egwu, and Peter Amadi of the legal/prosecution section of the force headquarters in Abuja.

    Wadume is charged alongside Tijjani Balarabe, an army captain and 18 others.

    Also on the list of defendants are Staff Sgt. David Isaiah; Sgt. Ibrahim Mohammed; Corporal Bartholomew Obanye; Private Mohammed Nura; Lance Corporal Okorozie Gideon; Corporal Markus Michael; L/Corporal Nvenaweimoeimi Akpagra; Staff Sgt. Abdullahi Adamu; Private Ebele Emmanuel; ASP Aondona Iorbee and Insp. Aliyu Dadje and Auwalu Bala, aka Omo Razor.

    Others on the charge sheet are Uba Bala (aka Uba Belu); Ahmad Suleiman (aka Dan Ball); Bashir Waziri, (aka Baba runs); Zubairu Abdullahi (aka Basho); Hafizu Bala (aka Maiwelder); and Rayyanu Abdul.

    Count one of the charge reads: “That you, Alhaji Hamisu Bala, 33, aka Wadume; Capt. Ahmed Tijjani Balarabe; ASP Aondona Iorbee; Insp. Aliyu Dadje; Auwalu Bala; Uba Bala; Ahmad Suleiman; Bashir Waziri; Zubairu Abdullahi; Rayyanu Abdul and others now at large, between February and April 2019 at Takum and Ibi, Taraba State, within the jurisdiction of this court, while acting in concert, conspired together to commit felony, to wit: acts of terrorism, by attacking and kidnapping one Usman Garba, aka Mayo, at his filling station in Takum, thereby committing an offence contrary to Section 17 of the Terrorism (Prevention) Amendment Act 2013.”

    They were also accused of possessing six AK-47 rifles and dealing in prohibited firearms contrary to section 27 (1)(a)(I) and (1)(b)(iii) of the firearms act.

  • Delta Kidnappers kill member for fleeing with N5m ransom

    Suspected kidnappers, 28-year-old Best Kevwe Iweh and Emmanuel Tomson (30), have reportedly murdered a member of their gang, Raymond Enahon.

    Iweh and Tomson were arrested by operatives of the Inspector-General of Police Special Intelligence Response Team (IRT) for the murder.

    According to the police, the suspects, on August 19, 2019, murdered Enahon for fleeing with N5 million ransom, which the gang had earlier extorted from a victim’s family.

    After fleeing with the money, Enahon bought a Lexus ‘Jeep’ and lavished the rest on his numerous girlfriends.

    IRT operatives later found Enahon’s remains in a shallow grave at Obiaruku village in Delta State. The operation was led by a Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Abba Kyari, who is the national head of the IRT units.

    According to sources, Kyari and his men launched investigation into the activities of the kidnappers following a directive from the IG, Mohammed Adamu.

    It was further learnt that Enahon’s body was exhumed after Iweh and Tomson were arrested. The suspects led IRT team to the shallow grave to recover Enahon’s body.

    A police source said: “The downfall of the gang started after IRT operatives, on the instruction of the IG, went to Delta State on the trail of a notorious kidnapping gang, led by Best Kevwe Iweh. The gang, who is a native of Oria Abaraka in Delta State, was successfully arrested. He is a notorious kidnapper and had been terrorising Delta State. The second suspect, Emmanuel Tomson, was arrested on August 18.

    “Both suspects have confessed to several kidnappings, including the kidnapping of a former finance officer in Delta State in August 2018. They also admitted to kidnapping and killing Raymond Enahon, their gang member. Raymond bought a Lexus RS 330 from N5 million ransom realised from one of their kidnappings.

    “Raymond collected the ransom and fled. They confirmed that Raymond bought a Lexus from the money and spent the remaining part of the ransom with his girlfriends. According to the suspects, they lured Raymond somewhere and killed him. After killing Raymond, they sold the jeep for N1.8 million.”

    Kyari and his men, it was learnt, are still working round the clock to arrest other fleeing members of the gang.

  • JUST IN: Abductors of Kaduna school girls, teachers demand N50m ransom

    Abductors of six female students and teachers at Engravers College, Kakau Daji in Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State have demanded N50m as ransom to free the abductees.

    Recall that the gunmen had in the early hours of Thursday stormed the college and took away six female students and two other staff of the school residing to an unknown destination.

    The spokesman of the Kaduna State Police Command, DSP Yakubu Sabo, confirmed the incident.

    According to reports, one of the parents on Friay said the kidnappers had made contact with the management of the school where they demanded for the N50m ransom.

    The parent who does not want his name on print said: “We learnt that the kidnappers had contacted the college where they first demanded for N30m per head of student.

    “We were told that the school authority told the kidnappers that they could only afford to pay N100, 000 for the release of the students and their teachers.

    “The kidnappers told them they are not serious to get the children back. Negotiation is still going on.”

    It was gathered that the students were immediately sent on break following the abduction of the six female students and two members of staff of the college.

    “We have sent the students on a week break pending when the situation would normalize,” a source told our correspondent.

    One of the traumatized parents, Mr. Julde Juli, whose 15 –year- old daughter was among abductees, prayed that the kidnappers release their children alive.

    “We just pray nothing happens to them and they come out alive. We just have to take things the way it come because is how God ordains it to happen.

    “I used to have two children here (school) but one of them has been taken to the Federal Science School, Sokoto.”

    On what attracted him to taking his children to the school, he said: “from my experience over the years, the school is good based on their performance and the school fee is moderate.”

    On how he felt on hearing of the abduction of his daughter, Juli added, “As a parent, I was shocked on receiving the news of the kidnap of my daughter.”

    He urged all those that indulged in kidnapping for business to repent of the sins.

  • Parents now sell children for cheap ransom to survive under Buhari’s govt – Ozekhome

    Lawyer, Mike Ozekhome, SAN, has lamented the sorry state of affairs in Nigeria which clocked 59 years on Tuesday, saying the citizens now live like walking corpses due to poverty and hunger in the land.

    He further said parents now sell their children to survive in a country which was once the biggest economy in Africa and the 3rd fastest growing in the world.

    According to a statement made available to press, titled, “Tears, Sorrow, Blood, Lamentation for Nigeria at 59,” the lawyer said, “Parents now sell their children to survive and the children do likewise. Husbands kidnap wives and wives kidnap husbands’ for cheap ransom.”

    Ozekhome said, “Tears. Sorrow. Blood. Pains. Pangs. Anger. Hunger. Melancholy. Dejection. Hopelessness. Haplessness. Disillusionment. Poverty. Ignorance. Termites and maggots eat up the national edifice.

    “Chaos and anarchy reign supreme. Impunity triumphs. Irredentism, cronyism, clannishness and nepotism strut around like a proud peacock. Corruption multiplies geometrically, ravaging the land.

    “Nigeria is now the second most corrupt country in West Africa and one of the 148 most corrupt in the world. Rule of law is subsumed, human rights crushed, Democracy is vanquished.

    “Even basic civil liberties are suppressed and subjugated. Judges are brutalised, humiliated and denigrated, for doing their jobs.

    “The Judiciary is weakened, traumatised, pauperised. The legislators haemourrage the national purse with fantastic and indefensible out-of-the-world pay packets. The Executive acts imperiously, untramelled, uncontrolled, like Louis X14 of France.

    “The cabal holds the nation down by the jugular. Less than 20 people dictate the fate of 200 million Nigerians. There are no checks and balances. Absolutism, dictatorship, fascism, brutality, bestride our democratic space like a colossus. Yet, the people, the Civil Society, remain docile, complicit, frightened and cowed.

    “Mediocrity is enthroned in place of meritocracy. Hypocrisy, lies, revisionism, propaganda are elevated, celebrated and dressed in the false garb of truth and patriotism. Genuine criticism, dissent, opposition, plurality of views, are treated as treason, and at best as treasonable felony. Nigerians now murmur, rather than discuss freely.

    “Soliloquy and monologue take the place of robust dialogue. Nigerians now live like walking corpses, like the living dead. The common man and woman languish in abject penury. The middle class diminishes. Industries relocate to neighbouring countries. Massive disinvestment becomes the order of the day.

    “Nigeria, once upon a time the biggest economy in Africa and the 3rd fastest growing in the world, is today the poverty capital of the world. Parents now sell their children to survive and the children do like wise. Husbands kidnap wives and wives husbands for cheap ransom.

    “Insecurity becomes the order of the day. Boko Haram, herdsmen, kidnappers, armed robbers, hired assassins, control our highways, pathways and forest routes. Nigeria has been turned into a gruesome crimson field of bloodbath.

    “There is mass suicide and homicide. Mass unemployment is the order of the day. Retrenchment becomes a norm. Education and certificates are racketeered. Children learn under uncovered roofs in rain, storm and sun, sitting on bare floor.

    “Graduates roam the streets without jobs. Our beautiful daughters and sisters are sold into second slavery as sex objects. Young able-bodied men take to kidnapping, armed robbery, internet scams and Otokoto rituals. Money bags are celebrated, no matter the illicit sources of their wealth.

    “The church and the mosque are complicit in this societal degeneration. Morals, ethics, values, recede into the abyss of historical oblivion. Prices of food have gone out of the of the roofs, leaving the poor prostrate and defeated. The tail now wags the dog, the leaders molest the people whose mandate they utilise.

    “They laugh the people to scorn, exploit them, beat them, scourge them, impoverish them and misuse them. God, where, when, how and why did we find ourselves in this scandalous state of nadir, doldrums and national calamity? Nigeria at 59!!! A woman still crawling, misused, dehumanised and degraded. There will still be sunshine at the end of the storm. Yes, a silver lining on a dark cloudy sky. God help us.”

  • Kidnappers of two senior NSCDC officials demand N6m ransom

    Kidnappers of the Commandant of Irrua Division of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), in Edo State, Mr. Albert Eguavoen, have allegedly demanded N6 million ransom to free their victim.

    This is even as the abductors of the wife of the Managing Director of Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), Mrs. Francisca Okhiria, have allegedly demanded for N20 million before she could regain her freedom.

    It was gathered that the Eguavoen’s abductors made the ransom demand on Monday when they opened negotiation with his family.

    But it could not be ascertained if the ransom demanded by the abductors was for Eguavoen alone.

    Recall that the Commandant was abducted last Friday afternoon, alongside Francis Okunwe who is attached at the Area Commander of the Edo North Area Command, around Ewossa before Ekpon in Esan Senatorial District of the State, while travelling to Benin City, the State capital.

    Sources at NSCDC said the officials were traveling through Igueben road, due to the bad state of the Benin-Auchi-Okenne highway.

    It was gathered that his abductors allowed him to speak with his family members, during which he reportedly urged them to raise the said ransom to enable him regain freedom.

    The Commandant was said to have also pleaded that the Redeemed Christian Church of God, where he is a senior usher at Eagles Wings parish of the church in Benin, should intensify prayer to ensure that he is not hurt.

    A family member who did not want to be named, said: “we fear for the safety of our brother because from the voice of the kidnappers we could deduce that they are herdsmen.

    “I urge the authorities of NSCDC to intensify efforts to ensure Eguavoen and his colleague’s​ safe return.”

    Meanwhile, the authorities of the NSCDC in the State, said they have dispatched operatives into the forests in search of the two abducted colleagues.

    Spokesman for the NSCDC in the State, Mr. Efosa Ogbebor, who described the incident as unfortunate, added that its men will comb the forest and ensure their colleagues are released unhurt.

    Meanwhile, the Edo State Commissioner of Police, Mr. DanMallam Mohammed, who confirmed the incident, added that a combined operation of security agencies in the state was being put in place to apprehend the abductors.

    In the other incident, Mrs. Okhiria who was whisked away by suspected gunmen in the Edo State capital of Benin, five days ago, is is yet to be released by her kidnappers.

    The Edo State Commissioner of Police, Mr. DanMallam Mohammed, however assured that the police were on top of the situation as they were hot on the trail of the kidnappers.

    Mohammed, who spoke in Benin on Monday, said that the police were not relenting in ensuring that Mrs. Okhiria was freed unhurt by her abductors.

    The Edo Police boss, however, said that he was not aware of ransom demand of N20 million by the kidnappers before letting go off their victims.

    Mohammed said: “We are on the case. The police in Edo is not taking kindly to this kidnap case. Investigations are still ongoing. We will get to the root of the case. We are not relenting and will release her, unhurt.”

  • Dapchi girls and ransom payment: So what? By Ehichioya Ezomon

    By Ehichioya Ezomon

    There was a lot of hullabaloo in the past week over payment or non-payment of ransom to free the Dapchi schoolgirls, who were abducted by Boko Haram insurgents on February 19, 2018. The furore signposts Nigerians’ penchant for selective amnesia.

    Let’s have a recap. The 110 girls of the Government Science and Technical College, Dapchi, Yobe State, and a boy were seized by elements of the terror group. The abduction led to a spontaneous outcry from Nigerians and the international community, as it came barely four years after the April 14, 2014, kidnap of 276 students of the Government Girls’ Secondary School, Chibok, in neighbouring Borno State.

    Considering the Goodluck Jonathan administration’s delay in acknowledging, and tackling the Chibok schoolgirls’ seizure, reportedly affording the insurgents ample time to disperse the students within and across our borders, most Nigerians were concerned about the quick and safe return of the Dapchi schoolgirls rather than dwell on the fine point of how they would regain freedom.

    Indeed, in the midst of conflicting official positions on the hostage, Nigerians were wary of a repeat of the belated efforts to rescue the Chibok schoolgirls, with over 100 of them remaining in captivity. That’s why persistent pressure was mounted on the Muhammadu Buhari government “to do whatever it takes to secure immediate release of the Dapchi schoolgirls.”

    Consequently, the government announced extension of search for the missing girls to neighbouring countries, and sent in military assets, including deployment of more troops and aircraft for reconnaissance.

    In the interim, the administration’s “back-channel efforts” at rescuing the girls paid off in about a month, as the insurgents returned 104 of them to Dapchi. What about the other six girls, distrust parents asked after their daughters not seen among the returnees? They were told that five of the schoolmates died during their three-day journey in the wide, and were buried by the militants.

    Besides the five “dead” students, there was another dampener that soured the otherwise heartwarming return of the 104 schoolgirls: one of them, Leah Sharibu, was reportedly held back for failing to renounce her Christian faith. Six months yesterday, August 19, and still in the den of the extremists, Leah turned 15 on May 14.

    Her captivity has, nonetheless, added fuel to the religious bent given to the atrocities of the terrorists: Their avowal to Islamize Nigeria, which some uninformed Nigerians have mischievously associated with the Buhari administration. What other analogy do they need to reinforce the bizarre notion than the government alleged “deliberate securing of the release” of 104 of the 110 abducted Dapchi schoolgirls “because they are Muslims.”

    As the government sweats over the continued detention of Leah Sharibu and the remaining Chibok schoolgirls, it’s facing a new query: Did the administration pay ransom to Boko Haram, to secure the release of the Dapchi schoolgirls?

    The challenge is “new” in the sense that “ransom payment” was a fleeting moment aftermath of the release of some Chibok and Dapchi schoolgirls. The “cheery and hearty” news of the return of the girls, as President Buhari said at the reception of the Dapchi schoolgirls in the Presidential Villa, Abuja, far outweighed the fishing for whether any ransom was paid.

    Even in those inquisitive days, the government had denied paying any ransom to free the girls. The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said the Dapchi schoolgirls’ kidnap “has become a moral burden on the abductors.” Hence, they chose to free them “out of pity,” residents of Dapchi quoted the insurgents that returned the girls as saying.

    So, why has the “ransom payment” suddenly turned into a subject of discourse and recrimination in the polity? The frenzy was triggered by a News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) report, which quoted a UN Security Council report indicating that a “large ransom” was paid to free the Dapchi schoolgirls, and that such payments were helping to fund and sustain the terrorists’ operations.

    “In Nigeria, 111 (110) schoolgirls from the town of Dapchi were kidnapped on 18 (19) February 2018 and released by ISWAP (Islamic State West Africa Province) on 21 March 2018 in exchange for a large ransom payment,” the Council report said, adding, “The predominance in the region of the cash economy, without controls, is conducive to terrorist groups funded by extortion, charitable donations, smuggling, remittances and kidnapping.”

    The media jumped at the UN Security Council report, to poo-pooh government’s prior denial of payment of any ransom to the Boko Haram elements, to free the Dapchi schoolgirls – a rebuttal Mr. Mohammed maintained on Thursday in a statement.

    “It is not enough to say that Nigeria paid a ransom, little or huge. There must be a conclusive evidence to support such claim. Without that, the claim remains what it is: a mere conjecture,” he said.

    Whichever, I stand with government (#ISWG) on this matter. Payment or no payment, denial or admittance doesn’t help the matter of life and death for the Chibok and Dapchi schoolgirls, whose bondage engendered global outrage, and birthed the Bring Back Our Girls (#BBOG) movement to free them.

    The girls, their parents, communities and state governments, and well-meaning Nigerians would care less whether or how much the Federal Government paid to secure their freedom. And it shouldn’t raise any firestorm unless those querying government’s efforts aim at gaining political mileage in this season of elections. That would be impugning on the sensibility of the families of the rescued schoolgirls, and others yet in captivity!

     

    * Mr. Ezomon, Journalist and Media Consultant, writes from Lagos, Nigeria.

  • How FG paid ‘large ransom’ to Boko Haram for Dapchi girls’ release – UN report

    The United Nations (UN) has said the Nigerian government paid ‘large ransom’ to Boko Haram insurgents to free scores of female students kidnapped from their school in Dapchi, Yobe State, earlier this year.

    This is Contrary to the claim by the government that the girls were freed without ransom.

    Recall that over 100 girls were kidnapped from the Dapchi school by a Boko Haram faction in February this year with about 105 of them later released by the terrorists. One of them, Leah Sharibu, who reportedly refused to denounce her Christian faith, is still with the abductors.

    Following the release of the girls, about a month after they were kidnapped, Mohammed told journalists that it was not true ransom was paid for their release.

    ‘’It is not true that we paid ransom for the release of the Dapchi girls, neither was there a prisoner swap to secure their release,” Mohammed told journalists in Maiduguri.

    “What happened was that the abduction itself was a breach of the ceasefire talks between the insurgents and the government; hence it became a moral burden on the abductors. Any report that we paid ransom or engaged in prisoner swap is false.”

    A UN report has now shown Mohammed’s claim to be false.

    The report recently submitted to the UN Security Council on Boko Haram and related terrorist organisations, said such ransom and the predominance of cash economy was providing oxygen for the insurgency around the Lake Chad region.

    The UN report is titled “22nd Report of the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team”, related to Resolution 2368 (2017) regarding “Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant – ISIL – (Da’esh), Al-Qaida and associated individuals and entities.”

    “In Nigeria, 111 schoolgirls from the town of Dapchi were kidnapped on 18 February 2018 and released by ISWAP on 21 March 2018 in exchange for a large ransom payment,” the report stated.

    The UN report negating the Nigerian government’s stance reflects the manner of propaganda the Nigerian government and its military have been using to fight the war against Boko Haram.

    The government’s stance appears to be that suppressing information, or as in this case lying about it, would reduce the efficacy of the insurgents and thus limit their ability to carry out their terrorist acts.

    The Dapchi girl’s ransom would not be the first by the Nigerian government to free victims held by Boko Haram. Huge ransom was also paid by the Buhari administration to free many of released Chibok girls kidnapped in 2014, senators including the leader of ruling party in the Senate, Ahmed Lawan, said. Although the move is largely welcomed by many Nigerians as it ensures freedom for the victims, experts fear it has helped fuel the insurgency by ensuring the Boko Haram has access to funds to buy more weapons and sustain themselves; a stance shared in the UN report.

    Apart from ransom, the UN also listed other ways the Boko Haram group is being funded.

    “…extortion, charitable donations, smuggling, remittances and kidnapping as parts of ways Boko Haram is funded,” the report stated as quoted by the News Agency of Nigeria.

    The report also stated how some “doctrinally based non-governmental organisations” were funding Boko Haram and other terror groups.”

    “The number of doctrinally based non-governmental organisations sending funds to local terrorist groups was growing, and Member States were concerned that radicalisation was increasing the threat level in the Sahel.

    “Meanwhile, Boko Haram (QDe.138) and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) have had a similar impact in their areas of control, including the Lake Chad basin.

    “The predominance in the region of the cash economy, without controls, is conducive to terrorist groups funded by extortion, charitable donations, smuggling, remittances and kidnapping.”

    According to NAN, “the report was signed by Edmund Fitton-Brown, Coordinator, Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team, who said the report was “comprehensive and independent”, and Kairat Umarov, Chair, Security Council Committee.

    The UN Security Council committee on al Qaeda sanctions blacklisted and imposed sanctions on the Boko Haram in 2014 after the insurgents kidnapped more than 200 Chibok schoolgirls.

    The designation, which came into effect after no objections were raised by the Security Council’s 15 members, subjected Boko Haram to UN sanctions, including an arms embargo, asset freeze and travel ban.

    The UN Security Council had last week said it remained concerned over the security and humanitarian situation caused by the Boko Haram terrorists and other armed groups in Nigeria, Cameroon and Chad.

    In a presidential statement, the 15-member body regretted that Central African countries were beset by terrorist activity, instability and the effects of climate change, and asked Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to review the work of the UN Regional Office for Central Africa (UNOCA), and recommend areas for improvement.

    The presidential statement read: “The Security Council strongly condemns all terrorist attacks carried out in the region, including those perpetrated by Boko Haram and the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as Daesh).

    “These attacks have caused large-scale and devastating losses, have had a devastating humanitarian impact including through the displacement of a large number of civilians in Nigeria, Cameroon and Chad, and represent a threat to the stability and peace of West and Central Africa.

    “The Council notes with particular concern the continuing use by Boko Haram of women and girls as suicide bombers, which has created an atmosphere of suspicion towards them and made them targets of harassment and stigmatisation in affected communities, and of arbitrary arrests by security forces.

    “The Council emphasises the need for affected States to counter-terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, including by addressing the conditions conducive to the spread of terrorism, in accordance with obligations under international law, in particular international human rights law, international refugee law and international humanitarian law”.

    The Security Council welcomed the support provided by UNOCA and the UN Office for West Africa and Sahel (UNOWAS) for the development of a joint regional strategy to address the root causes of the Lake Chad Basin crisis through regular contact with regional leaders.

    The Council encouraged partners to increase security assistance to Lake Chad Basin Commission countries, and humanitarian and development support across the region for those affected by Boko Haram activities.

    “The Security Council remains deeply concerned at the grave security situation and related violations and abuses of human rights in parts of Central Africa, in particular, the continuing terrorist activities of Boko Haram and other terrorist groups in the Lake Chad Basin,” it said.

    “The Security Council expresses its ongoing concern at continued tensions linked to disputed electoral processes, social and economic difficulties, and conflicts between farmers and herders,” the statement added.

  • Missing toddler: Man in court over alleged demand for ransom

    A 32-year-old man, Oloche Udeh, on Tuesday appeared before an Ebute Meta Chief Magistrates’ Court, Lagos, over alleged demand of N2.5 million as ransom for an information on a missing toddler.

    Udeh is facing a charge of fraud.

    The prosecutor, Insp. Oladele Adebayo, told the court that the accused committed the offence on July 8 at 2.30p.m., at Oregun, Lagos.

    Adebayo said the accused asked for the N2.5 million from parents of the missing five-year-old child in exchange for the information of her whereabouts.

    The offence contravened Section 2(ii) of the Kidnapping Prohibition Laws of Lagos State, 2017.

    The accused, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge.

    In his ruling, the Chief Magistrate, Mr O.O. Olatunji, remanded the accused in Ikoyi Prison.

    Olatunji, however, ordered that the case file should be sent to the State Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for advice.

    He adjourned the case until Sept.10.

    NAN

  • Daughter fakes own kidnap, collects ransom from father

    Operatives of the Lagos State Police Command have arrested Dorcas Adilewa for allegedly faking her kidnap to defraud her father, Taiwo Adilewa.

    The police also arrested Dorcas’ friend, Ifeoluwa Ogunbanjo, for her alleged involvement in the fraud.

    Nineteen-year-old Dorcas was said to have conspired with Ogunbanjo to execute the scheme and allegedly demanded N600,000 ransom.

    The police said Taiwo had received a call from someone who told him that his daughter had been kidnapped and allegedly demanded the N600,000 for her release.

    Taiwo reportedly informed the police about the kidnap of his daughter.

    The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Edgal Imohimi, during a press briefing on Monday, said he ordered the Anti-Kidnapping Unit of the command to investigate the case.

    He said, “The kidnapper told the father that if he did not want his daughter killed, he should pay a ransom of N600,000 to secure her release.

    “Investigation into the case immediately commenced and the phone number that was used by the callers was geo-located to the Ijebu Igbo area of Ogun State. The head of the Anti-Kidnapping Unit led his men to Ijebu Igbo at about 10pm the same day and combed the area in search of the supposed victim till the following morning.”

    Imohimi said while the search was still ongoing, the alleged fraudsters relocated to Lagos where Dorcas called her father.

    The CP explained that after she observed that operatives were very close to getting the kidnappers, and in a bid to evade arrest, Dorcas called her father that she had been released.

    Imohimi said, “The supposed kidnappers relocated to Ikotun in Lagos and the search party also moved to Ikotun to rescue the victim.

    “When the fake kidnappers realised that the police were closing in on them, the supposed victim called the complainant to inform him that she has been released after she gave them the N8,000 the father sent to her bank account.”

    The CP said Dorcas later confessed to have masterminded the kidnap, adding that she planned the kidnap with her friend, Ogunbanjo, who allegedly provided the hideout.

    He said, “Dorcas confessed that she planned the kidnap with her friend, Ifeoluwa Ogunbanjo, who provided her with accommodation on Adeboye Road, Okesopin, Ijebu Igbo, Ogun State, as well as the mobile phone they used to demand the ransom. Her reason was that she wanted to extort money from her father.”

    However, Dorcas said she needed the money to pay her school fee.

    She said, “When the payment of my school fee was delayed, I went to my friend’s (Ogunbanjo) place, where I called my father.

    “I was at her place on Thursday and I went back home on Friday when my dad said he could not afford the money.”

    But Ogunbanjo said she was not aware of the kidnap plan, adding that she accommodated Dorcas at her parents’ house because Dorcas told her she had escaped from kidnappers.

    She also said she gave Dorcas her phone to call her father because she said she needed transport fare to go home.

    Ogunbanjo said, “It was because she used my phone to call that the police came to Ijebu. What she told me was that she entered kidnappers bus and that when she escaped, she came to Ijebu Ode.

    “When she came, my mum entertained her and the next day, my mum gave her N500. She needed additional N500 to complete the N1,000 she needed to transport herself home. So she said she wanted to use my phone to call her daddy so she can tell him to send her some money to transport herself. So I gave her, not knowing that she was using it to demand money from her daddy.

    “She asked for my bank account number and I said I did not have. So, I went to meet someone beside my mummy’s shop to collect an account number. It is God that saved me that she did not use that person’s account number. I never knew that her daddy had sent N8,000 into her account and she did not tell me anything.”

    The CP said investigation was in progress and on completion, suspects would be charged to court.

  • Gunmen abduct PDP’s Financial Secretary, demand N30m ransom

    Unknown gunmen have kidnapped the Financial Secretary of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Ekiti State, Mr. Kayode Oni.

    Oni was reportedly seized at a location between Efon and Erio at about 4.30 pm on Saturday on his way back to Aramoko, headquarters of Ekiti West Local Government Area.
    He was said to be returning from Efon where he officiated in the PDP local government Congress.

    Ekiti PDP spokesman, Mr Jackson Adebayo, disclosed to reporters on Sunday that the kidnappers had established contact with the
    victim’s wife and younger brother and demanded a sum of N30 million as ransom.

    He revealed that Oni, who was in his car alongside his daughter and grandson, was waylaid by his captors and whisked to an unknown destination.

    According to him, only Adebayo was taken away to the kidnappers’ hideout leaving behind other occupants of the vehicle.

    Adebayo said: “He went to conduct our Local Government Congress in Efon Alaaye and was abducted while returning to Aramoko.

    “The family had been contacted , but they told the abductors that even the entire family can’t raise N1m and they were requesting for a staggering sum of N30m to secure his freedom.

    “The family told us reliably that they have made formal complaint at the police station in Efon about the situation and they promised to take actions.

    “Our party is not resting as well. We are making contact to ensure that his safety is guaranteed in the kidnappers’ den.”

    The State Police Command was yet to make official pronouncement on the incident at time of filing this report.