Residents of Ibarapa, a conglomeration of agrarian communities in Oyo State, are currently in a state of despondency. The once peaceful area widely regarded as the food basket of the South West part of the country is now literally controlled by kidnappers whose activities are not only robbing the farmers of their source of livelihood but are also turning them into automated teller machines (ATM) from which kidnappers draw money at will by abducting them or their relations for ransom. GBENGA ADERANTI spoke with some of the victims and reports that kidnapping has virtually become a norm in the beleaguered communities.

• Abduction victims relive experience as night life grinds to a halt

• 500 youths volunteer to storm forests in search of kidnappers

• Monarchs get seven-day ultimatum to end deals with herdsmen

In Ibarapa, a conglomeration of highly agrarian communities in Oyo State,  it has virtually become a crime to be affluent. All it takes to become a victim of kidnapping is for the kidnappers to have enough reasons to believe that you have the means to pay some good money as ransom. Consequently, both residents and indigenes of the town are living in constant fear.

A conglomeration of seven principal towns known as Ibarapa Meje and their surrounding villages, Ibarapa is definitely one of the most terrorised communities in the South West. It is reckoned that on average, no fewer than 13 residents of the area are taken into captivity by kidnappers every week.

And for a victim to gain freedom, the ransom could be anything from N300,000 to as high as N13 million, depending on the social status of the victim.

Speaking to The Nation, one of the highly placed residents of the area said kidnapping is gradually becoming a way life in that axis of Oyo State.

He recalled a recent incident in which a victim was asked by his abductors to pay the sum of N5 million, and when he told them that his family could not raise such a huge amount, they scoffed and reminded that he had just bought a car worth N10 million and kept it somewhere kept in Lagos!

“He had no choice but to tell his family to rally round and raise the sum demanded by the kidnappers,” the highly placed resident said.

Salisu, a businessman based in the area, now lives in constant fear because almost every supposedly affluent person who is close to him has had the misfortune of being kidnapped and were not left off the hook until their family members had paid the sums demanded as ransom. He believes it is only a matter of time that the same fate would befall him.

While he has prepared his mind for the unseemly experience, he is praying that his abductors would spare his life when it eventually happens, because payment of ransom does not necessarily guarantee that the life of the victim would be spared.

The situation has degenerated to the point that most residents of the affected communities are now afraid to move around, particularly in the evening, for fear of being kidnapped. Consequently, night life had become almost zero even before the 10pm deadline the community gave fun and entertainment spots to shut down.

Kidnap victims relive experience

Sefiu Odugbemi had no premonition of the cruel fate that befell him on that fateful night. It was around 11 pm when he got a call that one of his vehicles had broken down on its way back from the farm.

As he was thinking of what to do, a strange voice from one of the five men in the dark commanded him to follow them. Odugbemi said initially he wanted to resist the order until five men in hoods wielding AK 47 rifles came out of hiding and he knew he was in big trouble.

He said: “I was taken away from the house and for two days I was walking in the forest. Each time I wanted to slow down, they would flog me. They tied my hands and were dragging me.

“At a point, somebody was speaking to one of them in Yoruba at the other end of the telephone, telling them that they should move fast because my family members had contacted the vigilance group and the roads were being cordoned-off.”

While he was in captivity, Odugbemi’s abductors got in touch with his family, demanding a ransom of N50 million.

“For the period I was with them in the forest, it was constant torture while my family members were pleading and negotiating with them,” he said.

Odugbemi called on the government to come to the rescue of the residents of Ibarapa, saying that the activities of kidnappers in the area had gone out of control.

“The vigilance groups are trying their best but these kidnappers carry sophisticated weapons which are superior to what the vigilance groups possess. Government should please rescue us from them,” he said.

A source told the reporter that shortly after Odugbemi was abducted, his abductors drove his car to his residence and made away with his wife’s phone in order to prevent her from making any call. The source also said that when he was initially abducted, he was kept not far away from his house until about 3.30 am when he was moved to another location close to a Fulani settlement in the area.

“He was with his abductors for four days and was constantly tortured. He was released only after a ransom of N5 million was paid.”

For the family of Odugbemi, it was just one in a long list of the unfortunate incident. At the last count, his family had paid more than N12 million to kidnappers as ransom.

A family source told The Nation that it was not the first time a member of the family would be abducted. Before Odugbemi’s abduction, one of his brothers, Seidu, had been abducted, with his abductors demanding N30 million as ransom. The family had to negotiate with the abductors before they settled for N7.2 million.

For another victim, Odeyemi  Jide, who was kidnapped in front of his house,  it was an event that still makes his heart to skip a beat each time he remembers it.

Odeyemi, a native of Igangan community, believes that but for divine intervention it could have been worse.

He said: “I was in my house around 10 pm that fateful night having my supper helping my child with his assignment when from nowhere the kidnappers came to meet me in front of my house. They were up to 10 and were all hooded. They were Bororos.”

Asked how he managed to know the tribe of his abductors, he said: “I understand their language. I overheard their conversation.

“The first thing they did was to beat, torture me and collect all the money in my pocket. They shot into the air and they hit my head with the butt of their gun. They beat me mercilessly; that is why you see blood on my head in that picture. It was the grace of God that saved my life on that day. It is beyond human comprehension.”

Odeyemi said he was whisked into the forest.

“I was freed within 24 hours. Although they did not ask my family members to pay any ransom, they took all the money I had in my pocket. I really don’t know the exact amount, but I know it was much. God only displayed his mightiness; that was why they released me.”

The rescue team that was raised after Odeyemi was abducted probably aided his quick release from his abductors. ”The noise made by the team made them uncomfortable, and it could be one of the things that made them to release me quickly.”

About three weeks into Year 2021, the activities of the kidnappers in this axis of Oyo State has only worsened. On January 2, Alhaja Sherifat Adisa, the CEO of Subawah Oil, was abducted at about 7:20 pm. In the kidnappers’ bid to take the Subawah boss away, they shot two children dead.

Unlike others who were taken away and freed after ransom was paid by their family members, Alhaja Sherifat was not so lucky. Some hours after her abduction, her lifeless body was found on a footpath very close to her filling station.

Some hours after Alhaja Sherifat was killed, the abductors also went for Dr. Kayode Akindele, the CEO of Funmilayo Health Centre in Tapa. He was said to have been abducted from his house at about 11 pm and was said to have paid N2 million before he was released.

Again, on Monday, January 4, a cassava dealer, Alhaji Aderoju Monsuru was allegedly abducted by some gunmen around 8 pm.

There were speculations to the effect that two of the people who abducted him had attended a prayer session with him.

It was not until his family members coughed out N3.2 million as ransom that he was released.

According to an online report, the kidnappers initially demanded N2.5 million but had to up it because “the abductors were provoked by what they termed as lack of respect for them.”

The report said Monsuru’s kidnappers increased the ransom on the account that when Aderoju’s boss, Olosunde Olusegun, was abducted last year and the ransom was settled at N5 million, the money was later discovered not to be complete. His family members were therefore asked to add the shortfall of the ransom initially collected on Olusegun.

The abduction of a young female farmer, Modupeola Oyetoso and her fiancé some 45 kilometres to Lanlate in July last year attracted so a lot of attention online. In a video released on Youtube by@twinklefiles, the lady in question narrated how she was abducted.

As the story goes, she and her fiancé were attacked by some kidnappers on their way from the farm. Although Oyetoso was released after her parents had paid the ransom requested by her abductors, her fiancé was not that lucky as he died from the bullet wounds he sustained from the attack.

Oyetoso recalled that after her abduction, they embarked on a long journey of torture in the forest. She said: “After a while, they told me to bring my hand and they tied a rope on my hand. One of them used the rope to pull me, while another one behind was hitting me each time I slowed down as we were running to leave the scene.

“When I slumped, they beat and pulled me up. I had to muster the strength to run with them as it was raining and they were determined to get out of the place.”

We ran almost all through the night. We got to a place where we were supposed to sleep but I could not sleep. They blindfolded me and I didn’t see their faces.

“When we got to a spot, they brought out my fiancé’s phone, removed his SIM card, inserted it into another phone and asked me to call my parents to inform them that they wanted N50 million for my release.

“My father started pleading with them and they told him that if he wanted to see me alive, he should find the money. They spoke with him in Yoruba, but they communicated with themselves using another language.

Insisting that those who abducted her were Fulani, she said: “I farm in a place where we have a lot of Fulani settlers. I am familiar with them. They (suspects) were dressed like them, so, I know they were Fulani.

“In the forest, they told me they didn’t have cattle and that the only thing they did was to kidnap people for money. They said the next time I saw armed robbers, I should stop instead of running, because all they want is money.

“One of them even told me to take what happened as fate and at that point, I realised that they were thinking about my fiancé.

“The rain started and ended while we were in the forest. There was no shelter. When we got to a particular point, there was a river and the current was heavy. One of them went through it first.

“I was shorter than them, so when they told me to come around, I was really scared. My hands were tied as I walked through the river and one of them just held on to the rope and pulled me to get to the other side.”

How kidnapping began in Ibarapa

The General Secretary of All Farmers in the South West, Nigeria and member of the Agbekoya movement, Mr. Taiwo Adeagbo a.k.a. Akowe Agbe blamed the criminal elements among the Fulani and some evil minded Yoruba for all the criminal activities in that axis of Oyo State.

Speaking to The Nation, he said when the first kidnapping took place, he warned that such should not be treated with kid’s glove as it had the tendency to fester, but nobody was ready to listen to him then. He feels, however, vindicated with what is happening in the area.

Adeagbo said: “Kidnapping started in Ibarapa North Local Government in 2013. It all started when a Fulani man of 25-30 years left his boss, who is also a Fulani man. Some years after he departed, he came back to kidnap one of his ex-boss’ children.

“I called the attention of some prominent traditional rulers in Ibarapa North Local Government Area to this but they did not take me seriously. Then I wrote a petition to Zone 11, Ministry of Agriculture, and the DSS. The petition is with the local government. It is also with the traditional rulers.”

Contrary to the belief in some quarters that the Bororo (a variant of the Fulani tribe) are solely responsible for kidnapping in that part of Oyo, he said some Yoruba work hand-in- hand with the non-native kidnappers.

“Any time the Bororo demand ransom, it is these Yoruba people that tell them how much should be collected and the worth of the victims.

“They are the ones that tell the Bororo how much their victims are worth. They tell them that so and so person has so and so number of cows or so and so number of cars in Lagos.”

He recalled that butchers who buy cows and keep them with the Bororo used to be the targets of kidnappers before they extended it to other affluent natives and residents of Ibarapa. “Most of the people that are being kidnapped have cows with the Bororo,” he said.

He disclosed that initially, the issue of kidnapping was limited to the people in cattle business.

He recalled that some of the non-native cow dealers in the community were inviting herdsmen from other countries, and after the invited herders had settled down, their hosts would kill them and take possession of their cows.

“I told the leaders that this thing would come back to haunt us if we allowed these people to continue with their crime,” he said.

He said that at a point, the police started arresting the non-native cow dealers but some monarchs would go to the police to negotiate the release of the criminal elements.

Adeagbo said his advocacy against kidnapping offended many who were profitting from the crime and they started waging war against him.

“But I came out unscathed. I am happy I got the full support of the Alaafin in my fight against these criminally minded leaders,” he told The Nation.

But while Adeagbo is preoccupied with restoring peace in Ibarapaland, he is yet to get the needed support from the political class. He is therefore yearning for moral and financial support from eminent Ibarapa indigenes.

“It is because these kidnappers live in comfort unhindered that they think of abducting people. If we have the financial muscle, we know what to do. Unfortunately, the political class is not doing anything to support this fight against kidnapping.”

He told our correspondent that those who were profiting from the crime had attempted to win him to their side, and when that failed, they made an attempt on his life but did not succeed.

He said: “The last time they made such an attempt was at their meeting, but they were warned that if they eventually succeeded, their action would have dire consequences. If they succeed in killing me, I would go, but many people would die.”

How they operate

Although many people are quick to blame herdsmen for the dreaded kidnapping business, The Nation gathered that most of them work with some of the criminal Yoruba hosts. According to a source, what these kidnappers normally do is to enlist indigenes who give them information about Yoruba people who are capable of paying when abducted.

Their job does not end there. The informants are always very close to the scene of the kidnapping, updating kidnappers on the steps being taken by vigilance groups and security agents to track them.

After abduction, the victims are usually taken into the forest where there are Fulani settlements. From there, they communicate with the family members of the victims and ransom is negotiated.

Suspecting that some indigenes are working in tandem with the kidnappers, different groups of Ibarapa indigenes have resorted to taking oaths not to support kidnapping. The groups include the okada riders, butchers, chiefs and youths.

As a way of stemming the tide of kidnapping in Ibarapa, the monarchs in the communities that made up Ibarapa held a security meeting where some key decisions were taken.

It was resolved that commercial motorcycles would not be allowed to ride any time from 10 pm.

The meeting also resolved that joints and beer parlours should not operate beyond 10 pm.

It was also resolved that all the cow markets in that axis of Oyo State should be permanently shut.

But in a swift reaction, the Seriki Fulani in Oyo State, Alhaji Saliu Kadir, faulted the closure of the cow markets in Ibarapa area. He said although it behoves everyone to work together to restore lasting peace in the area, “closure of Kara Market is not the solution to the problem. It will only create hardship for everybody; not only the Fulani. Those who make use of Kara Markets are not all Fulani.

“It is a known fact that the markets are for everybody and closing it will seal the sources of income of many people.

“Those who are kidnapping and killing people will not operate in day time and Kara markets open during the day. There should be alternative ways of curbing this menace.”

While expressing displeasure with blaming the Fulani for the atrocities being committed in the region, he enjoined the Fulani community to be vigilant so as to expose all the bad elements among them.

Also, the Students’ Union of Ibarapa, an umbrella body of Ibarapa students, embarked on protests to express their displeasure with the state of security apparatus in the region.

In a related development, the youths of Ibarapa communities, in a meeting held during the week, resolved that they would visit the monarchs one by one and tell them to sell the cows they have with the herders within one week or risk being sent out of their palaces.

The Nation gathered that more than 200 youths attended the meeting in each of the five communities that make up Ibarapa North and Central local government areas.

About 500 youths were also said to have volunteered to follow popular anti-kidnapping crusader, Sunday Igboho, into the forest to flush out kidnappers.

Economic implications

The insecurity in Ibarapaland is likely to have serious economic implications on the people of the South West.

Tunde Hassan, a resident of the community, warned that if nothing is done about the kidnapping cases, most farmers would not return to their farms.

He said: “Farmers are constantly being attacked by the Bororo and many of them are not ready to return to the farm. If they can’t go to the farm, how would they survive? It is not just about people here, it is also going to affect the end users; those of them in the cities, especially in Lagos. The bulk of the farm produce from ours farms here is taken to major food markets in Lagos.”

At the time of filing this report, most of the farmers in that axis of the South West have abandoned their farms for fear of being kidnapped. The shutting down of Kara Market is hurting all. Besides the adverse effect on the cow dealers and butchers, those who depend on revenue from the market are not finding things easy.

Why kidnapping may be difficult to stop

The security situation of the community is made worse by the large expanse of the forest that is uninhabited and difficult to secure.

Though the security outfit of the South West, Amotekun, Operation Burst, local vigilance and others are trying to end the activities of kidnappers, it is like fetching water in a basket as more experienced security personnel are needed for the job.

The efforts of the security agents have also been dwarfed by the sophisticated weapons the kidnappers go about with. Most security agents do not have the kind of weapon needed to match the fire power of the kidnappers.

In a separate report, Adeagbo noted that most of the monarchs in that part of Oyo State had sold their lands to herdsmen.

He alleged that each time a kidnap suspect among the herders is arrested, before the suspect is taken to the Oyo State Police headquarters at Eleyele, Ibadan, one of the leaders of the herders would have called Abuja, asking that the suspect be freed instantly.

By Augustine Okezie

• Baby in endless cry as mom’s breast fails to produce milk

• I’m guilty of rape, says vice principal who impregnated her

Ordinarily, a woman who has just been delivered of a baby requires the protection of her husband. She is also expected to breast feed her new born child. That, however, is not the case with Hadiza Ibrahim, a junior secondary school pupil forced into early motherhood by her supposed academic and moral guardian. She has neither the man that would provide her warmth nor the breast milk her new born baby would suck.

The hapless 12-year-old became pregnant after she was allegedly raped by Ibrahim Tukur, the …….year-old vice-principal of Kadandani Community School in Rimi Local Government Area, Katsina State, where Hadiza was a pupil.

When our correspondent visited Hadiza on her hospital bed on Thursday at the Post Natal Ward of Federal Medical Centre, Katsina where she was delivered of a baby through caesarean section, she was seen sitting beside her baby on her hospital bed, eating noodles. Visitors and other patients at the ward were shocked at the sight of a young mother who probably needed as much motherly care as her four-day-old baby.

Asked why the baby was crying, Hadiza’s mother, Rabi Ibrahim, who is also nursing a three-month-old baby, said the baby was hungry but Hadiza could not breastfeed her because her breasts were yet to fully develop. She also said they had no money to food supplements for the baby.

She said: “My name is Rabi Ibrahim. I am the mother to Hadiza and she is my first born.

“Hadiza was impregnated in the school by her class teacher. We did not know until she was about to give birth four days ago and we brought her here in the hospital. I thought she would abort the pregnancy, not knowing that she was going to give birth.

“This evil teacher of Hadiza is fond of doing that to people’s children in the school; it is just that Allah wants him to pay for his evil deed through my daughter, Hadiza.

“He would deceive her with N50, saying that he is her father because her father’s name is also Ibrahim, which mean he has access to interact with his daughter even though he is the teacher. That pave way for him to always abuse her sexually without us knowing what was happening.

“Hadiza could not tell us what was going on with her in the school because this evil teacher threatened to punish her if she told anyone about it. She kept it secret even from us her parents.

“Nobody understood what was going on with Hadiza. She did not show any sign of pregnancy. The evil teacher has three wives.

“There is no milk in my daughter’s breasts but we do improvise milk for the baby to sustain her with the help of doctors and nurses in the hospital.”

Hadiza’s mother denied receiving any help from Tukur, who is now in police custody. She solicited for help from public spirited individuals and corporate citizens.

Hadiza herself could not speak fluently because she had sore throat at the time our correspondent visited, though she managed to utter some words.

She said: “He (Tukur) used to give me “kudi-ya” (Hausa phrase for the money a father gives to his daughter as gift). He gave me N50, N100 or N200 at different times. Then he would call me into his office and sleep with me.”

What remained puzzling, however, is how a girl’s pregnancy would mature and she would be delivered of the baby without the breasts developed enough to feed her child.

Dr Bola Kale, a consultant/gynecologist with the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Katsina, in a telephone conversation with our correspondent, described the scenario as unusual.

He said: “It is not about age. Even for those who are well mature, for one reason or the other, there might be delay in production of breast milk. Some will start early for the first feeding but some may be delayed.

“Sometimes we may just recommend breast pump for some people to stimulate, because it is about the physiological effect. It differs from one person to another.

“It is not about her age; it is just because nature may have delayed in producing breast milk.

“What will happen is that they will continue to pump her breasts. In fact, if they have money, they can buy a breast pump so that the child will not continue to be on breast milk supplements.”

He noted that there are exceptional cases of even 11 years old girls developing breasts before their teenage years and some between16 and 20 years not having their breasts fully developed.

He, however, expressed concern that in Hadiza’s case they may have to spend a lot of money on milk supplements, especially when the baby gets up to a month old when they might be buying milk supplements every three days

I’m guilty as charged, says Tukur

Tukur, the alleged rapist and vice-principal of Kadandani Community School, told journalists in Hausa language at the police headquarters in Katsina that he committed the act as alleged.

He said: “I am being accused of committing rape and it is true I committed the crime. I have been having affairs with the girl for eight months now. I used to take her to my house and offer her the sum of N300 of N500. Some other times, I would give her N200 to sleep with her.

“Information reaching me right now is that the girl has been delivered of a baby boy for me. I have three wives.”

Parading the suspect, the spokesperson of the Katsina State Command of the Nigeria Police Force, Gambo Isah, a Superintendent of Police, said the victim’s father, Ibrahim Sale had complained that Tukur, on several occasions, lured his 12-year-old daughter into his house, had carnal knowledge of her and in the process impregnated her.

The PPRO further expressed the concern of the command on the upsurge in rape cases across Katsina State, adding that it has become imperative to alert members of the public, especially parents, to always look after their wards.

He said: “The command, under the leadership of CP Sanusi Buba, is collaborating with relevant stakeholders such as the government, traditional institutions, religious leaders, women organisations, the media, civil society organisations, trade unions, etc., on the necessity of public sensitization in order to rid the state of this menace.”