Prime suspect in the abduction of three school girls in Lagos, Emmanuel Arigidi has revealed that twelve people were involved in the operation.
Speaking to journalists on Sunday after they were arrested and the girls recused, Arigidi said the operation was planned at Majidun area of Ikorodu.
“We went to Maya bridge to enter Canoe and went to the school around 8pm. After we gained entrance into the school, we took away three girls and we took them to our hideout,” he stated.
” But along the line, we had disagreement between ourselves and I was actually the one that started it. I told other members of the gang that what we have done is not good and that I don’t like it.
“I know that security in Lagos State is now tight and I was telling others that there was no way we would get away with this kind of job considering the level of security in the state. When I told them that we should end the assignment, other members of the gang threatened to kill me and then I took Canoe to run away.
“Three days after I ran away, operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) then arrested me somewhere in Majidun and that was how I told them how we planned the attack. One thing I will like to say is that if not for the fact that I was arrested, they would not have seen the girls because I was the one that revealed everything to the police,” he narrated.
Tag: kidnapped
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“How we kidnapped Lagos school girls”
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Kidnapped Lagos school girls freed
The three girls kidnapped from Babington Macurlay Junior Seminary (BMJS) Ikorodu, have regained freedom.
Oluwatimehin Olusa, Tofunmi Popoolaniyan and Deborah Akinayo were abducted from their classroom on Monday night by suspected pipeline vandals.
It was gathered that the girls were rescued at about 9:45am on Sunday by a team led by the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni.
Their rescue came two days after the Inspector General of Police, Solomon Arase deployed the Special Intelligence Response Team (SIRT) to compliment the efforts of the Lagos State Command.
The Nation also gathered that three of the suspects have been arrested and currently at the command’s headquarters in Ikeja.
Among the suspects was one Emmanuel Arikiti, identified as a kingpin and two others who allegedly registered the Sim Card that was used to contact the girls’ parents for ransom.
A police source who disclosed that security agents had earlier infiltrated the gang and arrested their parents in a bid to force the hand of the kidnappers, added that the criminals gave up because of too much pressure on them.
“After Arikiti was arrested, the father of two of the criminals, volunteered to go into the Adamo creeks to speak with the others.
“He went with a canoe after Arikiti gave the police exact location of the girls. When he got to the creeks, he appealed to their baser nature, while informing them that the police have arrested one of their gang members.
“He also told them that if they dont release the girls, that the police had stationed their helicopters for aerial bombardment. Seeing no other way out, the suspects quickly took the girls to Igbo-Okuta Bridge, Imota, dropped them their and called in anonymously,” said the source.
Confirming their release, Owoseni:
“Yes the girls have been rescued. I am with them and about to hand them over to thier principal and parents. In continuation of our search for the girls, I received information that they were sighted at Imota area of Ikorodu. I went there to pick them up in my car and they are safe in police custody.
“There were rescued about 9.44am today (Sunday). I can confirm that some of the suspects were arrested. We are not aware if ransom was paid.”
Owoseni who slept in the area said he was driving around Ikorodu in his car when he got a telephone call that the girls were sighted at Imota.
“They were rescued by the Imota police division. I carried the girls in my car and took them to the school to reunite them with their parents and loved ones. The girls are fine but we will not be exposing them to the media as a result of their age (14 years).
“They have gone to shower and after that, their parents will be brought to brief you people,” he said. -
Ex-Lagos commissioner’s grandson kidnapped in school
Grandson of immediate past Lagos State Commissioner for Rural Development Cornelius Ojelabi has been kidnapped.
Michael Oluwatomiyin Ojelabi, four, was kidnapped in front of his school by an unidentified woman six days ago.
His distraught parents are hopeful that he will return home.
In tears, they said they had not received any phone call about his whereabouts.
Sympathisers have been trooping to the Ojelabis’ Iyana School residence in Iba Local Council Development Area (LCDA) of the state.
Members of their church held prayers for the boy’s return yesterday.
The boy’s father, Sunday Ojelabi, told The Nation that Michael and his sister, Oyindamola, were standing at their school gate, waiting for their mother, when the woman, who gave her name as Aunt Joy, said she was asked to bring them home.
“I was shocked when my eight-year-old daughter told me her class teacher asked her to sweep her classroom. The teacher denied but three of my daughter’s friends said it was true. It was when she finished sweeping she took her brother to the school gate. Oyindamola told me that when they got to the gate, the woman, whom she described as tall, fat and dark-skinned, said my wife asked her to pick them. My daughter said she wasn’t going to release her brother but the woman asked her to inform her class teacher she had taken Michael. When she got back, they were nowhere to be found.
“She went home to inform my wife and when they returned to the scene, shop owners said they saw the woman on a motorcycle but they didn’t know she was a kidnapper. We went to Ojo police station. We have been searching for him. I believe we will find him by God’s grace because I suspect nobody,” he said.
Ojelabi said when he got the information, he reported the case to Adoff Police Station. He has also written a statement at the Ojo Police Station.
He said: “My wife is a trader and she takes them to school every morning. The reason she was late to pick them on that day was because she was preparing their lunch. She didn’t want them to return home without having anything to eat.”
When asked his last moment with his son that day, Ojelabi said: “I was getting dressed for work when he came to my room and said ‘daddy, good morning’. I replied ‘good morning’ and said I was off to work. He is my close paddy. I miss him these past few days because he was always awake whenever I returned from work. I keep thinking of my son’s condition. I keep thinking if he will be given his favourite biscuit and tea. We have been living in this environment for over 16 years and we have never witnessed incidents as this.”
Michael’s mother, Mrs Elizabeth Ojelabi, was said to have gone to the church.
The school’s head teacher, Olalekan Kazeem, said he was still in shock adding that the class teacher said she never asked Oyindamola to sweep.
“We are security conscious here because I remember there was a time their father was not allowed to take his children because he wasn’t a familiar face in the school. I pray we find him because that is our joy,” he said.
The Ojelabis are pleading with the public for information on their boy’s whereabouts.
They can be contacted on: 08024371127, 08028287574.
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My neighbour kidnapped, sold my daughter for N20,000
Since December 22, Godwin Onyeisi has not known peace following the mysterious disappearance of his three-year-old daughter, Success from home.
The minor was allegedly abducted by a neighbour, Emmanuel Okpara, who joined the father to look for the girl, until he was fingered by people who saw him with the child about the time she reportedly went missing.
Success’ disappearance bungled the family’s plan to travel home for the Yuletide and it is threatening the education of her other siblings. Her father, a commercial motorcyclist said he has spent all his savings – about N60,000 – on police investigation and other logistics.
Okpara has been arrested and transferred to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), Ikeja, where he allegedly confessed that he sold the minor for N20,000. But Onyeisi said they do not know who the buyer is or where he lives.
At their Adebumoye Street, Coconut, Apapa, Lagos home, a troubled Onyeisi told The Nation that he initially did not believe that Okpara, whom he has treated like a brother over the years could kidnap his daughter.
“The worst part is that he (Okpara) followed me to all the places I went to in search of my daughter, with the same clothe he wore when he kidnapped her.
“He followed me on my motorcycle to all the palaces of the Baales, all the streets and all the police stations we visited, until people who saw him with her about the time she went missing, told us and the police that he was the kidnapper,” Onyeisi said.
He said he was at work when his wife called him on phone that she could not find their daughter.
His wife, he said, had left the girl, who was watching cartoon at home, to quickly buy some of the things they need to travel to Delta State for the Yuletide.
“My older children went to fetch water at the well in a nearby compound. They went with other children in our yard. So, because we were planning to travel, my wife left Success who was watching cartoon in the room and rushed to the market.
“She was the one who called me that they have been looking for Success and have not seen her. Initially I didn’t really take her seriously because I did not think anyone will want to harm me or my family.
“When I came back and they have not seen her yet, I started going round the neighbourhood asking questions.
“As we were going round to ask people, the Baales were sending messages through town criers that anyone that saw her should come forward with the information.
“For two days, we went round in search of my daughter and my neighbour was with me all through the period. He was wearing the same red T-shirt that people saw him with while he took my daughter away. But he was following me as if he did not know anything about her disappearance.
“From December 23, we started hearing information that he was seen with my daughter, but I did not believe it because Success is very close to him. I have been very good to his family; I even connected my generator to his house to give them light.
“Whenever my daughter is given food, she will take it to eat with him. Once we bath her, she will take her clothe to him to wear for her. She usually slept in their house, so I did not want to believe that he was behind her disappearance.
“But three women later came to our house, among the three was a woman he bought bottled water from while he was with my daughter. So, the woman now said he saw him with my daughter and that after drinking from the water, he gave my daughter to drink and they left.
“I still did not believe what they were saying. I told them to stop lying against him until my wife got angry and went and reported to the police that I was also a suspect. That was how I was arrested with him on December 25 and we slept at the station.
“He was still denying it, until the women and all those who saw him with my daughter came to the police station and identified him.
“They even described the clothe he was wearing, which happened to be the same clothe he wore while he was following me about. That was how the police detained him.
“After some days, he confessed that he was the one who took her and that he sold her for N20,000 through somebody else to a man who lives in Okota.
“He said he cannot remember the man and the middle man who took the baby to the buyer usually stayed at a woman’s house here in Coconut.
“I have been going from church to church and they keep telling me that my daughter is alive.
“Okpara should let me know if he has killed my daughter. If my baby is still alive, he should say where she is. How can a man like that kidnap a little girl and since then he doesn’t want to say where she is? Police need to put pressure on him to say where my baby is.
“I have spent all my savings on the investigation of this matter. I have been giving the police money so that the case is not slowed down. Now I don’t even have money to pay for the school fees of my other children,” he said.
The Police have launched a manhunt for the buyer and the prophet he allegedly gave the child to.
It was gathered that the woman in whose house the middleman usually slept was nabbed but she was released because she knew nothing about the case.
It was learnt that the middleman gave the child to a chief, who handed her over to his prophet for sacrifice.
All the locations mentioned by Okpara have been visited by the police but they were deserted including two companies at Lekki said to be owned by the yet-to-be identified chief.
The Nation learnt that efforts to nab the suspects have been thwarted by their informants, who have been placed under watch.
“The police are very close to getting them. We will hunt them down soonest. Both the man who bought the girl and the one who took her to the buyer are being hunted, we are very close to getting them and will get them,” the source said.
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I trekked for hours, says kidnapped ex-Ondo Speaker
Former Ondo State House of Assembly Speaker Victor Olabimtan, who spent three days with his abductors, yesterday said he was forced to trek barefooted in the bush by his abductors.
Reliving his experience to reporters at his home in Akure, the Ondo State capital, the All Progressives Congress (APC) aspirant said he and other victims were put inside a pit, where they spent the night.
Olabimtan was abducted last Sunday at Kwali on his way to Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The APC chieftain confirmed that ransom was paid, but he didn’t give the exact amount.
The victim, who was received by his supporters, amid jubilation, said: “It was exactly 6:35pm on January 10, when we got to a spot at Kwali and I heard loud gunshots. I asked my driver what was happening.
“When I saw the shooters, they were in army and police uniforms and I thought it was the police and the army exchanging fire.
“It was later that we discovered that they were robbers.
“They stopped so many vehicles and blocked the road. Then they started searching the vehicles.
“When they got to my vehicle, they asked for what I had and I gave them what was on me- very little money. I gave it to them and they left. They said we should lie down and I laid down.
“In the twinkle of an eye, some of them came and said where is Oga? Where is Oga? They saw me lying down beside the car and said ‘na you be the owner of this car’ and I said ‘yes’.
“The abductors told me to get up. They held me by the waist and started dragging me into the bush.
“When I tried to resist, they slapped me and I had no choice but to obey them.
“We had walked for about 30 minutes when they asked me to stop. One of my captors said I should stand up and walk into the bush. I refused. I said ‘no’.
“He had a cutlass in his hands and he used the blunt side to beat me on the back, but I still refused to move. One of them came and said ‘leave him, leave him, don’t bother, leave him’.
“They said I should sit down and I sat down for about 30 minutes. We continued our journey. I was walking bare footed because my shoes had been removed.
“Some of the abductors were in front leading us; others were behind following us and by 11:30pm, we arrived at a spot.
“When we got to that spot, they said we should all lay face down and we obeyed. It was at this point that they shared the stolen money.
“When they finished, the abductors told us that is where we would sleep and we were there till the following morning.
“By 4am, they said we should be on the move and we started another journey till 11:30 am.
“Later, one of them came up to me and asked ‘How much do you have?’ I said ‘I don’t have money’. He asked again ‘How much is in your bank account?’
“I said there was no money in my account. He said okay ‘Who do you know that can give you money to bail you?’
“He said my ransom was N20million; another victim was N10million; another person N5million.
“Then I asked how can mine be N20million and they said ‘Na you be oga now, you no see yourself , you no see the car wey we take you from, na you be Oga, say who you be sef.’
“I said okay, I have people I can call; let me call my son. They gave me my phone and what I did was I tried to send a text message to my son.
“They took the phone from me and said we asked you to call your son and you are sending text message. ‘You will die today.’
“After some time, they came back to ask for a number, which I gave them.
“From there, they took over the negotiation. The only times they called my attention was to complain that ‘your people are not cooperating and because your people are not cooperating, we’ll kill you.’
“One of them will put a dagger on my neck to frighten me. I pleaded with my family to raise the funds.
“The only food they gave us was bread but I didn’t eat because I was fasting.
“There was no water and I requested for Coke, which they brought the following day. I drank it.
“We walked from 7pm till around 1am. We stopped on a mountain from where you can see the whole of Kwali and Gwadalagda. They said this is where we were going to stay ‘till you are bailed’.
“By 4pm on Wednesday came the cheering news that the ransom had been paid.”
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Teacher kidnapped in Ondo
A teacher, Mrs. Kehinde Mustapha, was yesterday kidnapped on the Okeagbe-Arigidi Road in Akoko North West Local Government Area of Ondo State.
Sources said the woman, an indigene of Oyin-Akoko, was coming from her hometown, where she attended the turbaning of an imam.
It was gathered that her abductors wore army fatigues.
Her Toyota Highlander Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) was abandoned but it was later parked at Okeagbe Police Station.
The victim’s husband, Dr Yusuf Mustapha, who is working in Abuja, confirmed the incident. He added that he had been invited by the state police command in Akure, the state capital.
The Oyin-Akoko monarch, Oba Olusola Bamisile, has called for inter-denominational prayers to free Mrs. Mustapha.
Sources said the kidnappers have demanded N15million ransom.
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Ex-Ondo Speaker Olabimtan kidnapped
•Abductors demand N20m
•Muslim Board chief also snatchedFormer Ondo State House of Assembly Speaker Victor Olabimtan was yesterday kidnapped in Kwali, near Gwagwalada, Abuja.
Olabimtan, an All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship aspirant, last Thursday, declared his intention to contest the October election.
He was speaker during the administration of the late Dr Olusegun Agagu and was recently commissioner representing Ondo, Ekiti and Edo states in the Federal Civil Service Commission.
The former speaker was said to be going for a meeting in Abuja when some gunmen in army fatigues abducted him at a check point.
Sources said Olabimtan’s driver, popularly called Agba, was set free by the kidnappers.
The abductors have demanded N20million for his release.
The media aide to the Supare-Akoko-born politician, Zadok Emmanuel, confirmed the incident.
He said the abductors stopped Olabimtan’s vehicle at a check point and whisked him away after they had shot sporadically into the air.
According to him, the abducted former State Chairman, Teaching Service Commission (TESCOM) has not spoken to his family.
He pleaded with security agencies to ensure Olabimtan’s timely release.
The incident has been reported to the FCT Police Command in Abuja.
When our reporter visited the former Speaker’s home at Alagbaka in Akure, his relatives were all in a sober mood.
One of his close associates and former supervisor in Ose Local Government Area, Isaac Obiniran, pleaded with the kidnappers to release his principal.
Also kidnapped was the State Chairman of the Muslim Welfare Board, Alhaji Abdulrashidi Ajifowowe.
But it was gathered that they were abducted at different times on the same road.
The APC in a statement by its Director of Media and Publicity, Steve Otaloro, said: “We appeal to the security agencies to expedite action on his rescue. We gathered that the kidnappers had contacted the Victor Olabimtan Initiative for Change and Emancipation (VOICE) and are demanding N20million for his release.
“We, however, seek the support of all Nigerians in prayers to ensure his rescue.”
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Two kidnapped pupils freed
Two school children kidnapped in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, on December 9, had been released by their abductors.
The children were kidnapped by gunmen around their school in New Bodija after closing time.
A source said the children returned unharmed. The source said the children looked good after their release, suggesting that they were taken care of while in custody of the abductors.
It was not known if their parents paid a ransom to secure their release.
The proprietress of the private school was not available for comments.
It was learnt the children were kidnapped while waiting to be picked up by their driver. They were abducted quietly without neighbours noticing.
Following the incident, the school authorities sent a short messaging service (SMS) to parents, instructing them to keep their wards at home having completed the term examinations. They were asked to come back for other term activities and results yesterday.
The SMS read: “Dear parents, exams are over and so the children do not have to come to school until next Thursday to collect their results. Please the country is on the red security alert. Let’s keep monitoring the children’s movement. It is well with them. “
But the police denied that any kidnapping took place.
Its spokesman, Adekunle Ajisebutu, explained that the children’s father reported at Ashi Police Station that his children were missing, adding that the message was relayed through the Control Room.
“He did not come back for any follow-up or to report at the appropriate station to where he was directed.
“So, as far as we are concerned, there was no kidnapping. We called him later on Friday. He just told us that he had seen his children.”
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Kidnapped Jos council boss, abductors die in auto crash
The Chairman, Management Committee of Jos East Local Government Area of Plateau State, Mr. Hosea Azi, has died shortly after he was allegedly kidnapped from his home.
Azi died two days after he was sworn-in by the state governor, Simon Lalong, as the head the management of Jos East LGA.
Our correspondent gathered that Azi was forcefully kidnapped by some unknown persons last Friday night in Kufang along Miango road in the central area of Jos, the state capital.
A source said, “The kidnappers were heading towards Abuja with the victims after kidnapping him, but within Keffi, Nassarawa State, the car of the kidnappers was involved in a severe crash due to a high speed. The kidnappers must have been on top speed with the fear that the police might be pursuing them.”
Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of the State Police Command, Abuh Emmanuel, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), confirmed the incident. He, however, added that he was yet to get the details as at the time of filling this report.
Another family source said two of the suspects, who suffered serious injuries in the accident, confessed to the crime while receiving treatment in an unnamed hospital.
The Director of Press to Governor Lalong, Mr. Samuel Nanle, who also confirmed the death of LG boss said, “The Council boss met his death in a fatal motor accident on Friday night at Garaku village near Keffi, Nasarawa State. Family source said two other persons with him in the car also died in the accident.
“However, there is no confirmation of his abduction yet, though it is being rumored that he was abducted in Jos. Security operatives have been dispatched to the accident scene to confirm that.”
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Health worker kidnapped in Ondo
A Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Owo, Ondo State worker, Mrs. Queen Ehizogie Adeyeye, was at the weekend, kidnapped at Iselu Quarters.
Mrs. Adeyeye, a pharmacist, was said to have been kidnapped on her way home from a vigil, which she attended in company of her son and younger sister.
It was gathered that the pharmacist, who lost her husband a year ago, was at the vigil for a prayer to mark his one year remembrance.
The suspected kidnappers were trailing the victim immediately she left the church.
It was learnt that the hoodlums forcefully drove into her compound, when the gate was opened for her car to enter.
A neighbour said there was noise from her compound at 5.30 am but everyone was scared to go out.
The neighbour said: “They were coming from the vigil on Saturday morning. As the gate was opened for them to enter the compound, the armed men came in.
“They asked the son and her sister to come down from the vehicle and drove only her (Mrs. Adeyeye) away.”
Police spokesman Femi Joseph said the victim’s family has reported the incident to the Police Area Command in Owo.
He said the state command had begun investigating the matter.