The Nigerian Police Force's Oyo State command made many arrests, as no less than 19 alleged kidnappers were paraded in Ibadan for crimes including abduction, murdering notable persons, and armed robbery.
Ten suspects were paraded, including those involved in the abduction of Prof. Adigun Agbaje, a former deputy vice-chancellor at the University of Ibadan, a hotelier from Ogbomoso and a student from Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso.
According to Prime9jaOnline, the police detained the accused kidnappers and murderers of Olugbenga Owolabi, an Ogbomoso hotelier, and Rachael Opadele, a student at LAUTECH, who were later murdered by their captors after being paid a N5 million ransom.
According to Prime9jaOnline, the victims were taken hostage on July 29 in the Aba neighbourhood of Ogbomoso and executed by their captors on August 2 after a N5 million ransom was paid.
The accused were apprehended after kidnapping another victim, Alhaji Waheed Hameed, a livestock dealer, on September 16. According to SP. Adewale Osifeso, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), the suspects were briefed by newsmen at the Police Headquarters, Eleyele, Ibadan.
According to Osifeso, the alleged kidnappers, who have been terrorising the residents of Ogbomoso, stopped Hameed at a remote location, assaulted him there with AK-47 rifles and other lethal weapons, and then took their victim into a dense forest.
He said the suspects eventually got in touch with the victim's family and demanded a N1 million ransom before releasing him.
The police spokesman claimed that as soon as the command team learned about the situation, they mobilised all of their resources to free the victim unharmed and apprehend his kidnappers.
“Sequel to this directive, operatives attached to the Monitoring Unit swung into action. While combing the thick forest alongside local hunters and members of the Vigilance group, they stumbled upon where the victim was held captive and rescued him unhurt.
“The victim, during debriefing, narrated his ordeal in the hands of his abductors and explained that while the kidnappers were negotiating his ransom, they claimed responsibility for the death of an Ogbomosho hotelier, Gbenga Owolabi, threatening that he (the abductee) would suffer a similar fate should his ransom payment process get thwarted by involving the police.
“The victim also gave other useful information to the Police operatives, and this led to the arrest of three members of the kidnapping syndicate,” Osifeso said.
Similarly, he said the command’s crack detectives arrested 10 suspected kidnappers linked with the kidnap of Agbaje.
Prime9jaOnline reports that Adigun, alongside others, was kidnapped on Oct. 28 by kidnappers, allegedly in military uniform that laid siege to the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway around Dominion University.
He said the victim was released on October 31 after ransom was allegedly paid, while a policeman lost his life during the incident.
Osifeso said that items recovered from the suspects included four AK-47 Rifles,75 K-47 live ammunition, two pairs of military camouflage and N7.5 million cash.
He said the suspects had confessed to the crime, adding that a manhunt for other members of the criminal syndicate continues.