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Tag: kidnapped

  • Kidnapped ex-Ogun Deputy Speaker’s wife, daughter regain freedom

    Former Deputy Speaker of the Ogun State House of Assembly (OGHA), Dr. Tokunbo Oshin’s wife, Nofisat Oshin, and his daughter, Miss Afolabi Oshin, has been set free from captivity by suspected kidnappers.

    Nofisat, who is the Director of Information, Odogbolu Local Government Council, and her 15 year-old daughter, Afolabi, were abducted 15 days ago at about 8pm, at the entrance of their Imoru residence in Ijebu Ode and whisked away to unknown destination at gun point.

    The duo were set free yesterday morning, but it is not yet clear if the family paid the N150m ransom demanded by the kidnappers before regaining their freedom.

    It is also not clear if the police effected their release from the kidnappers’ den.

    Nofisat and Afolabi were released in less than 24 hours after, Dr Tokunbo Oshin, urged Nigerians to prevail on the kidnappers of his wife and daughter to free them from captivity, saying he had become helpless about their plights.

    Oshin who was a Deputy Speaker of the Ogun state House of Assembly from  2003 to 2007, has confirmed the release of his wife and daughter, saying:  “Yes, they have been released. That is all I can say for now.”

  • 11-year old boy kidnapped, Slaughtered in Kano

    Police authorities Tuesday in Kano confirmed the killing of a 11-year old Musa Salisu of Naibawa quarters in Kano metropolis.

    According Kano state police Command Public Relations Officer, DSP Musa Magaji Majia, Salisu, a primary six pupil was abducted by suspected kidnappers and slaughtered in cold blood when his abductors could not receive ransom.

    Magaji said the pupil was abducted by unknown assailants by 2.00pm Monday at Naibawa quarters of the metropolis.

    Late Musa was sent on errand within the neighborhood around 2pm when yet to be identified hoodlums abducted him.

    The Police spokesman also confirmed that two suspects have been arrested in connection with the abduction of the case, adding that the boy’s throat was slit when police discovered the dead body.

    Speaking with uncle to the late Musa Salisu, Abubakar Kafinta said “it was not immediately clear that the boy was abducted until three hours on when an unidentified person phoned the family about the unfortunate development.”

    He explained that “the abductors demanded for half a million naira ransom to release the boy or else his life”.

    According to late Musa’s uncle, “the matter was promptly reported to the police, while concerted effort was made to meet their demand”.

    Kafinta who was on tears revealed that “we called them through the same line this morning for a deal only to learnt that the boy has been slaughtered.”

    The abductors further gave us details description of where they deposited the corpse along eastern bypass.”

    Kafinta who could not controlled his emotion revealed that “We have recovered the lifeless body performed the Fidau and buried him at Naibawa cemetery according to Muslim rites.”

  • How we kidnapped my Chinese boss, by driver

    One of the four suspects being held for allegedly abducting a Chinese, Hang Kumming, yesterday relived how the plan was hatched.

    Amos Loko, who is the driver of the said Chinese at NEDCOMOAKS, said they went for his boss to make money.

    Kumming, it was learnt, was rescued on Wednesday night.

    Loko, Adebowale Johson, Oluwadara Segun and a Beninnois, Vidiyong Taiye, were paraded yesterday by the Lagos State Police Command’s spokesperson, Dolapo Badmos, a Superintendent (SP).

    He said they took the Chinese to a forest behind their house at Igando, Ibeju-Lekki, after the operation.

    Loko said: “We are a gang and had planned to kidnap somebody for ransom last year but the plan failed.  After that, I continued my job as a driver. It was recently I called back my gang and told them that we would pick up my boss.

    “The plan was that as soon as I resumed work by 5am and opened the gate, they would use the advantage to come in and kidnap my boss. Our plan worked and we took him to a forest behind our house at Igando, Ibeju, Lekki.

    “But unfortunately, a contractor with the company, one Mr. Ken, called in the police and they arrested me as a suspect. It was during interrogation that I confessed to the police”.

    Badmos said the victim was rescued at about 10pm unhurt on Wednesday.

    She said the command was on the trail of other fleeing members of the gang, adding that they would all be charged to court after investigation.

  • Efforts ongoing to free Kidnapped catholic priest – Ortom

    Efforts ongoing to free Kidnapped catholic priest – Ortom

    Benue state Governor, Samuel Ortom has assured the Catholic Diocese of Otukpo that the State Government has intensified efforts to secure the release of the Vicar General of the Diocese, Reverend Father John Adeyi, who was kidnapped two weeks ago.

    The Catholic Diocese of Otukpo has severally pleaded for his release saying they don’t pay ransom as such has no money to do so.

    Rev Adeyi, who is the Vicar General of Catholic Diocese   of Otkupo  and priest in charge of St Bernard Catholic Church Okpoga, in Benue south was kidnapped two weeks ago after he conducted a mass at an out station church .

    Governor Ortom who gave the assurance when he paid a solidarity visit to the Bishop of Otukpo Diocese, Most Reverend Dr. Michael Apochi, said the State Security Council had met and directed that everything lawful should be done to ensure that Reverend Father Adeyi regains freedom.

    He expressed worry that after two weeks of the priest’s abduction, he is yet to be freed, describing the situation as unfortunate and condemnable.

    Governor Ortom who was accompanied by his Deputy, Engineer Benson Abounu, said they were at the Bishop’s house to identify with him and the Catholic Diocese of Otukpo and to reassure them that the State Government will not relent in its efforts to ensure the unconditional release of the Vicar General.

    He stressed the commitment of his administration to the security of lives and property, disclosing that part of the measures taken was the introduction of the anti-kidnapping law which will soon be enacted in the state, adding that he had intensified talks with the Federal Government towards ending frequent attacks and killing of people by herdsmen in the state.

    Responding, the Bishop of Otukpo Diocese, Most Reverend Dr. Michael Apochi, thanked Governor Ortom for the visit and his prompt action to have Reverend Father Adeyi released by his abductors. He said the Church will continue to pray for the safe return of the Vicar General.

  • Kidnapped Osun officials released

    Three staff of the State of Osun Civil Service kidnapped last Friday have regained their freedom.
    The State Head of Service, Sunday Olayinka Owoeye in a statement said Mrs. ‘Bimpe Ogunlumade, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Mr. Tajudeen Badejoko, Director of State Audit and the Driver to the Auditor-General(State), Mr. Oladapo Ajani Arogundade, were freed by their abductors on Sunday evening.
    He said arrangements are being made to convey them to Osogbo immediately by security agents with a view to re-uniting them with their families and relations.

  • Oyo police parade uncle who kidnapped niece

    Oyo police parade uncle who kidnapped niece

    The police in Oyo State have paraded Olayinka Taiwo (20), who allegedly kidnapped his three-year-old niece, Omolade Abdulsalam and demanded N200,000 from her parents.

    Commissioner of Police Leye Oyebade said Abdulsalam was kidnapped on March 30 at her residence at Adegbayi, Egbeda, Ibadan.

    He said: “Few hours later, the abductors called her parents to demand for N200,000 as a condition for her release. A report was made to the police and the victim was rescued in Adegbayi Alakia.

    “Security operatives stormed the criminal hideout where one of the suspects, Olayinka Taiwo, was arrested and the victim rescued unhurt at 1:30pm on March 31.

    “The suspect confessed to the crime and narrated how he and other members of the gang currently at large planned and carried out the evil act,” he said.

    Confirming that the suspect is her brother, the victim’s mother, Kemi Abdulsalam, said she received a call that her daughter has been kidnapped.

    “I was searching for my daughter all day before I was called by someone in the evening who said my husband owes him some money. I reported at the village head’s house and was told to report at the police station,” she said

    Taiwo, who studies Insurance at the Polytechnic of Ibadan, said:” I kidnapped my niece because my sister’s husband does not give me money anytime I come back from school.

    “I reported to my friend and he was the one who planned it. At first, I was reluctant to be part of the plan but he threatened me and that was why I gave him my sister’s number.”

    Also Olu Adewale (56) was arrested for parading himself as a lawyer.

    But Adewale claimed that he studied Law at the University of Lagos and graduated in 1976.

    “I did not attend the law school. I started practising in Kano where I had my first chamber before moving down to Ibadan in 2000.

    “ I believe that once I study law I can practise. I started practising believing that I can later go to law school but unfortunately I could not.

    “I have appeared in the Magistrate’s Court Iyaganku on behalf of a client before.”

  • ASUU demands release of kidnapped UI worker

    ASUU demands release of kidnapped UI worker

    The Chairman of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), University of Ibadan (UI), Dr Deji Omole, has asked the Inspector-General of Police, Solomon Arase, to rescue Dr Beatrice Fabunmi, who was kidnapped in Ondo State.

    Dr Fabunmi is an ASUU member who works at the Kenneth Dike Library in the university.

    She was allegedly kidnapped at Oba-Akoko on her way to her mother in Ibilo, Edo State, last Friday.

    Her husband, Prof Martins Fabunmi, who was also kidnapped, was shot and released.

    The kidnappers are demanding N5million for her release.

    Omole said: “Where will ordinary Nigerians pass that they will be safe?

    “Our roads are death traps and since we cannot afford plane tickets, we endure the hardship only for us to be kidnapped again. This is evil and must be stopped.

    “The Inspector General of Police needs to track down those kidnappers in Ondo State and other adjoining states.

    “We in ASUU are demanding the unconditional release and safe return of one of our own.

    “The state must guarantee the security of its members.

    President Muhammadu Buhari should order security agencies to ensure Dr Fabunmi’s release within 24 hours.”

    Omole added that although the case had been reported to the police, it  was not treated with the  attention it deserves.

    “If ‘big men’ or their children are kidnapped, all the newspapers will be awash with the report but when the ‘poor man’ is kidnapped, he becomes another victim.

    “The Minister of Interior, Abdulrahman Dambazzau, should step up his act and check this insecurity.

    “The Federal Government must not force Nigerians to rise in self defence, if their security cannot be guaranteed by the state.”

  • Three Jos clerics kidnapped in Kaduna

    The National President of Fellowship of Churches of Christ In Nigeria known in  as “Tarayyar Ekklesiyoyin Kristi A Nijeria” Rev Emmanuel Dziggau and two of his subordinates have been kidnapped along Kaduna Abuja road.

    They were kidnapped at about 5:30pm on  Monday evening while the victims and other leaders of the church were inspecting a building site for the church in Kaduna state state.

    The site of the church project is located at Sabongari-Kasau, an entrance village that welcomes travelers to the state.

    Other clerics kidnapped along the President are his Vice Rev. Illiya Anto and retired Rev. Yakubu Dzarma.

    The national General Secretary of TEKAN Rev. Moses Ebuga disclosed the incident  during a press conference held at TEKAN headquarters in Jos the Plateau State capital on Tuesday.

    Rev. Ebuga said, “The abductors has so far released Rev. Illiya Anto due to his health condition but the rest are still been held by the captives.”

    He said, “The kidnappers whom has been using the mobile phone of Rev. Anto demanding for N100 million ransom before they could release the President and Rev Yakubu Dzarma.”

    According to Rev Ebuga, “We are not ignorant of the prevailing political scheming in the country over the planned national election of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) where the leaders have become the subject of attack particularly the leadership of TEKAN/ECWA Bloc in CAN”

    He called on the federal government and the Security agents to do everything possible to ensure the safety of it’s leaders and have the perpetrators fished out.

  • Rivers commissioner, APC chieftain kidnapped

    Rivers commissioner, APC chieftain kidnapped

    Gunmen have reportedly kidnapped Rivers Commissioner for Water Resources, Chief Ibibia Walter and a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Elyon Elijah.

    They were both kidnapped few hours to the commencement of the rerun elections.

    Elijah, who was a former leader of Andoni local Government legislative Assembly, was said to have been kidnapped at Asarama waterside in Andoni local Government area of the state late last night.

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), on its twitter handle, said Walter was also abducted by unknown gunmen.

  • Kidnapped Lagos schoolgirls freed

    Kidnapped Lagos schoolgirls freed

    Five days of anxiety ended yesterday for parents, friends and family members of the three girls kidnapped from Babington Macaulay Junior Seminary (BMJS), Ikorodu, as they regained freedom.

    Oluwatimehin Olusa, Tofunmi Popoolaniyan and Deborah Akinayo were abducted from their classroom during prep last Monday.

    They were rescued at about 9:45am  by a team led by Lagos State Commissioner of Police Fatai Owoseni.

    Their rescue came two days after Inspector General of Police Solomon Arase deployed the Special Intelligence Response Team (SIRT) to complement the efforts of the Lagos State Command.

    Three of the suspects were arrested and are at the command’s headquarters in Ikeja.

    Among the suspects is Emmanuel Arigidi. Also being held are two others who allegedly registered the mobile telephone sim card that was used to contact the girls’ parents for to demand ransom.

    A police source spoke of how security agents infiltrated the gang and worked on their members’ parents in a bid to force the hand of the kidnappers. “The criminals gave up because of too much pressure on them,” he said, requesting not to be named because he is not permitted to talk to the media.

    “After Arigidi 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 Arigidi gave the police the exact location of the girls. When he got to the creeks, he spoke to them, informing them that the police had arrested one of their gang members.

    “He also told them that if they failed to release the girls, 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 there and called in anonymously,” said the source.

    Confirming the girls’ release, Owoseni said: “Yes the girls have been rescued. I am with them and about to hand them over to their 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.

    ”They were rescued at 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.

    Owoseni said yesterday that investment in technology assisted the police to rescue the schoolgirls.

    “I want to say that what was employed in rescuing the girls is more of application of intelligence-led policing, using the platform of technology, partnering with members of the community and pressure on the kidnappers.

    “What we have done with other security agencies is that we also went for members of their families, including the mothers, the fathers, their children and, with that pressure, they found out that there was no way again for them to continue keeping the girls and that was what led to the success we recorded in rescuing the girls.”

    He said the police will continue investigations to round up other members of the gang.

    “The Governor has just mentioned that the state has the capacity to pursue any criminal who dares at all to come and disturb the peace or to commit crime in Lagos. I can assure you that we are all secured,” the police chief said.

    He said the girls were rescued at Imota but declined to disclose where the suspects were picked so as “not to jeopardise our investigation”.

    He confirmed that three suspects were arrested during the operation, adding that the girls were not molested by their abductors.

    “There are actually three suspects that we arrested. One was actively involved while the two others are conspirators who in one way or the other aided the kidnapping.

    “With respect to the state of the girls, they are very well, they are stable and immediate medical attention to test them has been administered to them by the police medical team and I can as well tell you that as we picked them up, one of the questions we asked the girls was whether they were molested in any way and the three of them stated unequivocally that they were not molested in any way.”

    Asked if ransom was paid to the kidnappers, Owoseni said: “When you talk about ransom in cases like this, you are glorifying kidnapping. We should not be talking about ransom anymore in this country because if you do, you are telling others that kidnapping is viable and you can be going and kidnapping people to collect money.”

    While the girls were in custody of abductors, the school kept giving information to parents. On Saturday, the school management, raised the hope that the girls would soon be back. In a message, it said: “Beloved, praise God. Thanks for your prayers and support. We are at conclusion of the issue. In few hours we shall rejoice. God is in control, we appreciate.”

    On Sunday, another message announced the resque of the girls. It said: “Praised God. All Glory be to God the Almighty and our father. All our students are back in school hail and hearty. Thank you very much for your support and prayers. God is faithfull. Thank you.”