3 kidnappers arrested

... while collecting N10m ransom from freed victim

•One of them serving security agent; two AK 47 rifles recovered

•They forced me take an oath  to pay back N10m balance – Freed bizman  

On March 18, 2023, it was published a story of a businessman, Timothy Uche,  who was abducted  by a four-man armed gang, one of whom disguised as a pregnant woman, in the Ejigbo area of Lagos.

After three days in captivity, his abductors  settled for N15 million ransom, as against N75 million initially demanded.

 When it became apparent that Uche’s family could not raise N15 million, it was gathered that his abductors collected N5 million from his family.  But they made him take an oath to pay back  N10 million balance upon his release.

In a brazen arrogance,  while   dropping  Uche  off at  Ayobo on Tuesday, March 14,2023,  the kidnappers informed  him  that they would come back for the balance, threatening to wipe out his entire family if he made any attempt to outsmart them.

Arrest

Barely had Uche finished  nursing  the bruises inflicted on him while in the kidnappers den, than  his wife received a call from the kidnappers, demanding for the N10 million balance.

They gave  him  May 6, 2023, as the deadline  to pay, with an instruction that the money must  be paid in cash and must be in  the United States dollars.  

Collection point was Ikotun, a Lagos suburb. Three of them  came in a motorcycle  and succeeded in collecting the dollars that were starched in a bag, from the business man’s wife.

Then all of a sudden, a car from nowhere hit  their operational motorcycle, as they zoomed off ,  flinging all of them to the ground. The  bag containing the dollar notes was also flung open, revealing  some wades of dollars.

 They were subsequently arrested by armed policemen from the State Criminal Intelligence and  Investigation  Department, SCIID, Yaba.

Uniform man among suspect

Surprisingly, it was gathered that during preliminary investigation, one of the arrested suspects was discovered to be a serving security agent. The gang’s  two  operational  AK 47 rifles were also  recovered  by the detectives.

During interrogation,  the suspects whose identities were not revealed by the Police,  mentioned a popular Lagosian as leader of the gang. However, when detectives stormed the alleged leader’s house and guest houses in the mainland and Island, he was nowhere to be found.  

Biz man speaks  

In an interview with Uche, his expression depicted  fear and uncertainty of the action of the fleeing  gang leader.  He was however full of appreciation for the Police.

 According to him, “ But for the Police, especially the leader of the team that arrested the suspects, I would have been a dead man by now.  This has proven beyond doubt that the Nigeria Police  is not as docile as some people thought. I was  made to understand that the leader of the Police  team was responsible for the apprehension of the suspects that killed a Central Bank Staff , his wife and one of their children in Ogun State. Such officers deserve special promotion to motivate them to do more”.  

Continuing, he said, “ They said they released me on debt. The condition then was that they would  release me  to  go and work in order to get money because I told them that the  amount paid as ransom  was what my wife could  raise.

“They  forced me to drink  a liquid substance  as an   oath binding me to refund the balance.  I drank it out of fear . But I have nullified it .

“  Initially,  I ignored their calls and threats upon being released  , until they sent one demonic letter to me, saying they were coming to wipe me and every member of my family out if I didn’t bring the money. I begged them to reduce it but they refused. At that point, every member of my family was afraid. We took solace in prayer , until detectives from the SCIID where the matter was reported, came to our rescue.

Fraustartion 

“ My wife took the money to them. But they kept tossing her  up and down, by changing the collection points.  Eventually when they told her to come to Ikotun, they ordered her to trek a long distance to a designated point. Yet, when she got there, they told her to go to Egbeda.

“By then, she was  stressed  beyond her  endurance threshold .  Out of frustration, she told them to come kill her and that she was tired of being tossed here and there.  She  sat down at a spot, ruminating on what to do when a motorbike came to where she was and told her to hand them the money. That was when the Police struck”.

Gang’s leader in prison

it was gathered that investigation into the arrest further revealed that the leader of the gang that was formed two years ago, was serving a jail term at the Kirikiri Correctional Centre . However, he was said to have worked with his members from prison, an action that questions the efficiency of the correctional service staff.

But during interrogation, the suspects  claimed that was their first operation.

Efforts to get the reaction of the Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Benjamin Hudenyin , on the outcome of the investigation  to ascertain the exact security agency of one of the kidnap  suspects failed as he neither responded to his calls nor text messages sent.

Culled from Vanguard