Thursday, 10 October 2013

Police bust 3-man kidnap gang, rescue 30-yr-old woman

LAGOS — Police in Lagos State, yesterday, said they have arrested a three-man gangof kidnappers, who specialised in kidnapping young boys in Lagos and Ogun states.

This was as37-year-old Idowu Ajibola has been arrested bypolicemen attached to the Area‘E’ Police Command in Festac, Lagos, for allegedly abducting a 30-year-old woman, for three years.

Lagos Deputy Police Public Relations Officer, Damasus Ozuani, who paraded the suspects before newsmen, said the three kidnappers were currently being detained by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS.

Ozuani, who identified the suspects as Olalekan Benjamin, Gbenga Sholaja and Samson Somorin, said they were arrested when the Divisional Police Officer at Igando Police Station, Ben Osuji, received an intelligence report on the gang’sactivities and caught a member of the gang at 12, Olowojeunjeje Street, Egan, Igando, Lagos.

He said: “The DPO at Igando, apprehended Benjamin and later transferred him to SARS for further investigation. During interrogation at SARS, the suspect confessed and named some of his gangmembersas Sholaja and Shomorin, based in Alagbado, Lagos and Owode-Ijako, OgunState, respectively.

“The officer in charge of SARS, Abba Kyari, arrested the two suspects from their various hideouts. They confessed to have kidnapped three children, one from Omole Phase 1, another from Alagbado area, while the third, wasfrom Owode-Ijako, OgunState and collected various amountsasransom from their parents.

“We also discovered duringinterrogation that Benjamin is ajailbird, who was imprisoned for a similar case in 2009”

Kidnap

Meanwhile, Vanguard gathered that Modupe Brown wasa 400 level student of Business Administration at LagosState university, LASU, when she was abducted by Mr. Idowu Ajibolaand kept in captivity for three years.

It wasfurther gathered that on September 9, operatives from the Area ‘E’ Command, following an intelligence report, stormed Sagamu, OgunState, and rescued the victim.

They arrested one Ebun Idowu, the alleged abductor’s mother, who watched over the victim, while the abductor was arrested at Idumotaarea of Lagos.

Ozuani, who also paraded the suspects, said: “The suspect cunninglycamped the victim at three different locations duringthe period of incarceration: Osogbo in Ogun State, for six months; Bariga in Lagos, for another sixmonths, while theyspent over two yearsin Sagamu, Ogun State.

“The suspect, who hails from Abeokuta, OgunState, is a primary school drop-out.

“He forcefully impregnated the victim, who had a baby girl with deformities because of the abductor’s refusal to have the baby immunised against polio virus.”

‘She’s my lover’

When Vanguard interviewed Ajibola, he described Brown as his lover and that they had been cohabiting for three years.

He said: “She told me she wanted to run away with me because her parents do not want her to get married to a man of her choice. I told her that I don’t have money but she said I shouldn’t worry, that she will look for a way out.

“Some few days later she paid N200,000 into my account and we travelled to OsunState. Because of the nature of my job, we were moving from one place to the other. I am surprised that the police came to my house and arrested me.”

‘He hypnotised me’

However, Brown insisted that she was hypnotised and abducted byAjibola in 2010. She said that before her abduction, she has never met Ajibola.

She further added that Ajibola accosted her when she wasabout to pay her schools fees.

Brown said: “I lostconsciousnessthe moment he touched me and he asked me to go back to my house and bring all my belongings to hishouse.

“That was how we started living as husband and wife. Any time I make attempts to go, something will tell me notto go and in the process he impregnated me.

“He moved me from place to place and prevented me from immunisingmy child. I regained consciousness recently and I picked up a phone and called my mother, who brought in the police.”

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