Tallest and his members
reportedly kidnapped the cop in Mowo, a border community between Lagos and Ogun
states, while the lawyer was seized in Igbodu, Epe, sometime in March, 2017.
One Tallest, the suspected
ringleader of a kidnap gang operating in the Epe area of Lagos State, has been
declared wanted by the police for allegedly orchestrating the abduction of a
female police Sergeant, a lawyer and three others.
They were said to have
moved the two victims, whose identities have yet to be disclosed, to their camp
around the creeks in Ketu-Epe and contacted their families on the telephone,
demanding millions of naira in ransom.
PUNCH Metro learnt that
after much negotiation, the lawyer’s family paid N5m while relatives of the
Sergeant paid N200,000 before the duo were released last week.
However, four members of
the gang were on a motorcycle last Thursday when operatives of the
Anti-Kidnapping unit of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence
Department, Yaba, who were on patrol in the area, intercepted them.
A sum of N500,000 was said
to have been recovered from the suspects –Aboi Feku, 23; Blessing Mimo, 20; and
26-year-old Samuel Yola – who were paraded on Wednesday at the state police
command headquarters in Ikeja.
Other members of the gang
at large were identified as Adam and Eke.
Feku, who hails from Ondo
State, told our correspondent that his role was to cook for the gang, stating
that he got a share of N250,000 from the N5.2m ransom.
The 23-year-old said, “Five
persons were kidnapped altogether– three women and two men. The policewoman and
the lawyer spent about a week in the camp. We collected N5m from the lawyer and
my boss, Tallest, gave me N250,000. N200,000 was collected before the police
Sergeant was released. I don’t know how much he collected from the three other
persons.”
Mimo explained that he was
not involved in the abduction, but admitted to have been given N100,000 from
the ransom. He said he was a load carrier in a motor park in Epe, where he met
Tallest, who introduced him to the gang.
He said, “One day, I met
Tallest and asked him for money, and he gave me N500. He also gave me his phone
number. A few days later, I called him and he directed me to the camp. That was
how I became a member.
“It was Tallest, Adam and
Eke who kidnapped the police Sergeant and the lawyer. Aboi (Feku) and I only
helped them to cook food in the camp. They collected N5m from the lawyer and
gave me N100,000. They said they abducted the lawyer inside a poultry farm. I
didn’t get any share from the money collected from the police woman.”
However, Yola, who denied
belonging to the gang, said he was a commercial motorcycle rider and was
carrying Mimo, Fiku and one other suspect on the run to an area in Epe when the
police stopped them.
The 26-year-old father of
two children, who live in the Imota area of Lagos State, said, “From my park in
Agbowa, I carry people to Ijebu Ode, Igbogbo, Sagamu (Ogun State) and Epe
(Lagos State). It was only Aboi I know. I carried him sometime in February and
he collected my phone number.
“Since then, he had been
calling me whenever he wanted me to carry him anywhere. Last Thursday, around
6am, he called me to come and pick him at Ketu-Epe. I met him and his friend
(Mimo) by the roadside. Another boy also joined us.
“We were going on the
motorcycle when policemen stopped us. As they were searching them, the boy ran
away. They found money on them and arrested all of us. I have never
participated in any operation with them and I don’t know they are
kidnappers. I don’t know anything about
the kidnapping of the lawyer and the policewoman.”
Meanwhile, one Solomon
Chukwudi, aka King Solomon, was also paraded for keeping kidnap victims in his
house in Agbowa.
The 30-year-old
horticulturist said his friends, who were still at large, introduced him to
kidnapping when he told them that he needed N50,000 to start a business.
He said, “Two of my friends
met with me in Ikeja, where I work and they said a man owed them some money.
They said they wanted to kidnap the man and promised to give me N50,000. They
brought the man into my house in Agbowa and asked me to monitor him. They said
they would come to pick him the following day, but the man escaped. The man
later led the police to arrest me.”
Briefing journalists on the
arrests, the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, said the
command would work with the state Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice
to prosecute the suspects within the ambit of the law.
He said, “We shall work
with the government to ensure diligent prosecution of the suspects.
“We urge members of the
public to continue to support us with credible information to work on with a
view to addressing various security challenges in the state.”
Na wa o that Lagos is not safe
ReplyDeletehow will the innocent ones prove their innocense
ReplyDelete