The Commander of Edo State Security Corps, Friday Ibadin, a retired Commissioner of Police, disclosed yesterday that three suspected kidnappers were arrested at Uromi in Esan Northeast Local Government Area of Edo.
Speaking with reporters in Benin, Ibadin gave the names of the suspects as Asene Ogah, 49; Ibhafidon Eric, 29; and Ekpu Godfrey, 44.
He disclosed that his men achieved the feat when they responded to a distress call made by one Mrs. Rita Ufuha, prompting his men to mobilise for patrol and bush-combing of Esan land.
The commander stated that after the call, the woman hid in the bush while his men rescued her and kept her in a safe place before swiftly arresting those involved as identified by the victim.
He noted that his men arrested three of the seven young men who invaded Mrs. Ufuha’s residence in Uromi to kidnap her.
He warned other criminals in Edo that the state would be hot for them unless they relocate to other states.
Ibadin noted that the three suspects confessed to the crime, while two locally-made pump action guns were found with the suspected criminals, who he said would be handed over to the police for further investigation.
Mrs. Ufuha alleged that the kidnappers were sent by a leader of Esan Awareness Group, whose creator lives in Sweden.
She thanked the officers and men of Edo security corps for saving her life.
The police in Ogun State have begun manhunt for armed men who kidnapped a woman at Orange Estate in Arepo on Thursday night.
The woman identified simply as Mrs. Odumosu A. was kidnapped around 9:55pm at her residence by four armed masked men.
The kidnappers were said to have waylaid the woman and dragged her off her Lexus Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) as she was about to enter her residence at Aminu street.
They were said to have taken her through the swamps to an unknown destination.
Confirming the incident, spokesperson for Ogun State Police Command, CSP Omolola Odutola said the Commissioner of Police (CP) Lanre Ogunlowo has ordered discreet operations aimed towards ensuring her safe rescue.
Asked if the woman kidnapped was the wife of retired Assistant Inspector General (AIG) Hakeem Odumosu, Odutola said she was not aware of that information, adding that all she knew was that the victim was identified as one Mrs. Odumosu.
“The retired AIG has not come forward to say his wife was kidnapped. I don’t know where the press got the information and I cannot confirm an information that I do not have.
” I can tell you that all efforts are on to ensure the woman’s safe rescue.
“The incident was reported at the Warewa Police Division and officers were immediately deployed to the swampy bushes to search for the woman.
“Also, locals have been contacted through the Baales of the community and communities nearby. We are leaving now stone unturned to ensure that the woman is rescued and the suspects arrested.
“The CP, Lanre Ogunlowo PhD has been briefed and all covert operations have been deployed to assist with digital intelligence to ensure she is rescued unhurt,” she said.
Kidnappers of an Anglican priest, Rev. Canon Olowolagba, his wife and two children have demanded a ransom of N75 million.
The Anglican priest and his family were abducted along the Ise Akoko-Iboropa Road in Akoko North-East Local Government area of Ondo State.
He hails from Ikaram-Akoko.
Bishop of Akoko Anglican Diocese, Rev. Babajide Bada, who confirmed the incident, said it happened on Sunday between 4pm and 5:30pm.
“The man involved is Reverend Olowolagba. He was travelling from Ipesi with his wife, Mrs Olowolagba, their 16-year-old daughter Goodness Olowolagba, a 100-level student of Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba- Akoko (AAUA), who came for holiday at home, and a nine-year-old girl staying with them, identified as Idowu.
“They drove from Ipesi through Isua-Akoko. And when they got to between Isua and Ise- Akoko, they were kidnapped, and we didn’t know until the following morning when their members discovered that they did not get to Ikaram where they were going, and they were not also at home.
“Since then, those who kidnapped them have been calling. They called to ask for N75 million ransom, and we said that is very unreasonable.
“Later, they said N10 million, but when we had gathered some money to go and secure their release, they changed it to N15 million.
“That’s why the Reverend, the wife and the two children are still there.
“Amotekun is working, because we have reported the matter at the Amotekun office in Akure and they are working on it..
“We have also notified the hunters and reported the matter to the police, both in Ikare and Isua.
“At present, Amotekun and the hunters are combing the bush to ensure the victims are rescued from their abductors.”
CAC keeps registration window open as recalcitrant PoS operators defy orders
The number of point of sales (PoS) vendors in the country is growing in geometric proportions, rising from 155,000 in 2017 to 3.04 million in July this year. But laudable as the development is for business and commerce, it is fast becoming a handy instrument for kidnappers, internet fraudsters and other criminal elements in the society. INNOCENT DURU reports that a lot more needs to be done by the authorities before criminal elements destroy the trust that innocent Nigerians have in the system.
A PoS operator based in Delta State recently played a role in helping kidnappers to collect and disburse ransom money without knowing it. She had a customer, Timothy, who had been withdrawing and transferring money at her business centre and she had built a lot of trust in him over time.
She said their business relationship grew with transactions ranging between N2,000 and N5,000 until Timothy decided one day to collect her account details.
She said: “When he collected my account details, he did not tell me that he would transfer money to me. He only called and asked me to check my account.”
On checking her account balance, she found that Timothy had transferred N4 million into it. Elated by the unprecedented cash deposit, the PoS operator quickly calculated what she stood to gain from the deal.
“My profit from the transfer is N40,000. I sent N1.2 million into Timothy’s account and he gave me other accounts that I transferred the remaining money to,” she said with every sense of innocence.
Shortly after the deal was concluded, the long arm of the law caught up with Timothy. It was at that point that it dawned on the PoS operator that she had played a key role in a kidnap deal.
Confessing to the crime, Timothy said: “Precious, Bala sent me the money. This was the first time they would do a transaction with me.”
He said aside from the N4 million, “another N590,000 was paid by another person. I do local fraud. The other guys also do local fraud. We do the fraud inside the yard. I have heard that the N4 million was collected from a kidnap victim.”
The case of Timothy and the innocent PoS operator is just one of the numerous instances of criminals using ignorant POS operators to carry out ungodly activities.
Aside from kidnappers, one notable criminal gang that uses PoS operators very often to carry out their heinous crimes are hoodlums who hack into people’s social media handles like WhatsApp and Facebook. Once the scammers have control over the hacked WhatsApp account, they impersonate the victim and request money from their contacts, often under the guise of an emergency with promises of repayment. They may also use the hacked account for other criminal activities.
One of such criminal elements recently hacked our Abuja based correspondent’s WhatsApp number. After gaining control of the app, he started impersonating the victim. He wrote a well-crafted message telling how he urgently needed financial help and promised to pay back shortly. He requested that the money be paid into a Moniepoint account number 5641873364 with the name Daniel Ilesanmi.
This reporter was among the people he sent the message to. After receiving the message, however, this reporter shared the information with a contact number found on the website of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) asking them to track the number. No response was received and it was not certain that the anti-graft agency acted on the information.
Findings revealed that PoS gives hoodlums the opportunity of hiding their identities as no personal information about them are provided in the transaction. All they do is to provide the PoS with information that payment had been made to the POS operator’s account.
Another scammer, who reached out to our correspondent to assist a little boy through a POS account, in a poorly composed message said: “Please help the poor boy. Nothing his (is) too small, nothing his(is) too big? AND MY GOD WILL CONTINUE BLESSING YOU ALL. THANK YOU SO MUCH, PLEASE YOU CAN ALSO SHARE. Balogun Oizamisie Moniepoint Bank 5526266306.”
Also sharing her experience, Omon spoke of how a fraudster who had hacked her sister’s WhatsApp account and impersonated her, asked for financial help.
“The number he posted was a POS account number,” she said.
“When I got the message, I played along and asked the scammer to send his bank details. I promised to send the money after 30 minutes. He was glad, thinking that he had got a willing victim.
“After 30 minutes, he called back to remind me about the money. I said he should still hold on. After some time, he got angry and started abusing me. He quickly deleted all the messages when I told him that he would end up in jail.”
Fraudster uses online application to defraud PoS operators
A 29-year-old commercial motorcyclist, Victor Ukachuckwu, recently narrated how he used an online application he downloaded from the internet to defraud Point of Sales (PoS) operators in Ondo State.
The suspect said: “I saw the application online and I learned how to use it, which I tried and it worked, though I used it only five times in this month.
“I made N55,000 from the fraud business before I was arrested by NSCDC operatives in Akure.”
Speaking on the incident, Hammed Abodunrin, State Commandant of NSCDC, explained that the suspect had defrauded many PoS operators with his tricks. According to him, the suspect was in the habit of going to PoS operators to withdraw money.
“After he was done with PoS operators, he would access his own bank through a firewall application to inform the bank that he made a transaction, which failed.
“He would tell the bank that he had bought certain things and the goods were not delivered to him so he wanted the transaction cancelled and the money returned to his account. He would go back later and withdraw the reversed amount.
“That is what he has been doing. This month alone, he has done it three times; I think on February 13, February 17 and yesterday (February 26).
“One POS operator just noticed that each time he had a transaction with the suspect, the transaction would be reversed. This means that the POS guy kept losing money, amounting to about N55,000.
“The suspect was arrested today (February 27). We were about to grant him bail and we just felt we should approach his bank, and another money just came back into his account, which means that there are so many that will still come back to his account,” the NSCDC chief explained.
Abodunrin explained that when the command approached the bank, it (bank) claimed to have sent emails to the affected POS operators. He said the bank reversed the transaction and paid back the suspect because it did not receive any response from the POS operators it emailed.
“I am appealing to banks to find faster and better means of communicating with their clients to prevent future criminal acts,” he said.
How fraudsters use ‘No Trace Account’ to defraud on PoS
Findings revealed that scammers who defraud PoS operators often transfer the funds into what is called No Trace Account. A no trace account, according to AI search results, is a type of account that provides anonymity for its users by not keeping official records or tracking the source of money.
Hawala, also known as underground banking, is a money transfer system that uses no trace accounts to transmit money without moving currency. Hawala networks have been used for centuries, and are often used by expats to send money home.
However, some countries, like India, have declared Hawala illegal due to its informal nature and lack of regulation.
Reacting to a complaint by a scam victim on Nairaland about how his money was stolen through PoS, a netizen said: “The guy who withdrew the cash withdrew it to a no trace account which he already created with XXX. Yahoo guys/G Boys/online scammers create an account called “No Trace Account” using stolen BVN details.
“They create this account with online banks. Trust me when investigation is done on this matter, na innocent person dem go catch, except the scammer later transfers the cash to a regular account from which he can withdraw it using an ATM card or he can use a xxxx ATM card to do the withdrawal.
“Then with this, his face will be out there, captured by the camera attached to the ATM machine used. Being aware of this risk, he wouldn’t try that option. But las las (in the end), he will opt for the best option of buying stuff and then do transfer to the seller.
“But in this case, it’s obvious he used an XXX ATM on PoS to do that withdrawal. My best guess is that money is gone.”
•Unegbu
He advised: “Next time, to avoid having your ATM card details /account being compromised, do this: Don’t you ever use your main bank account ATM on any POS.
“Any time you want to use the POS, transfer just that amount+ charges to a secondary account. You can go ahead and withdraw from this account using the associated ATM card. Do this for both ATM & online transactions.
“This way, you avoid exposing yourself to online hacks.
CAC keeps registration window open as recalcitrant PoS operators defy orders
On May 6, the Federal Government acting through the Corporate Affairs Commission, CAC, set a two-month deadline for PoS, companies to register their agents, merchants, and individuals with the commission, aligning with legal requirements and the directives of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN.
This decision was reached during a meeting between Fintechs and the Registrar-General CAC, Hussaini Ishaq Magaji, in Abuja.
The order was flagrantly disobeyed by many operators forcing the CAC to issue a fresh statement extending the deadline.
The statement dated July 7 reads: “The Corporate Affairs Commission wishes to notify Fintech Operators also known as Point of Sales (POS) Operators that the initial deadline of 7th July, 2024 given for the registration of sole Agents, Super Agents and Agents has been extended for a period of sixty days beginning from 7th July, 2024 to the 5th September 2024.
“This is to give sufficient time to Operators particularly those in remote areas who might have encountered network challenges to so register and continue with their businesses.
“Operators who fail or refuse to register at the end of the extended deadline run the risk of losing such businesses and prosecution for aiding and abetting criminal activities.”
The September 5 deadline also expired with a good number of PoS operators failing to register with the CAC.
Alarmed by the defiance of the operators, the CAC on September 7, expressed concern over the inadequate compliance with the directive, despite the large number of POS operators in the country.
According to the statement, “Recalcitrant operators have refused to adhere to the advice for formalisation due possibly to engagements in unwholesome activities or for some reasons best known to them.”
The CAC emphasised that it was working in collaboration with law enforcement agencies and other relevant stakeholders to implement a comprehensive enforcement and sanction framework.
The measures may include the shutdown of non-compliant businesses and other severe legal consequences.
“We are to make it clear that the commission is working with law enforcement agencies and other relevant stakeholders to deploy a comprehensive enforcement and sanction framework that may include not only possible shutdown but other severe legal consequences,” the statement read in parts.
When contacted on the level of compliance and what the commission is doing about those who have defied its order, the commission’s Director of Press, Dominic Inyang said the process is still ongoing. Providing the Commission’s position on our request, he said: “The process is still ongoing. Compliance level is still ongoing as well hence an exact figure of PoS registered cannot be given at the moment.
Our efforts to find out from the Central Bank, the maximum amount a PoS operator can receive or transfer daily were unsuccessful.
The spokesperson, Sidi Ali was yet to respond to our text message as at the time of filing this report.
POS fraud cases rise in first half of 2024 as terminals spread
Reports showed that PoS fraud rose in the first and second quarter of this year. The prevalence of fraud and forgery in the country’s payment system showed a significant shift in the first quarter of 2024..
According to the Fraud and Forgeries Report in Nigerian Banks for the first quarter of 2024 by the Financial Institutions Training Centre (FITC), POS fraud cases surged by 31.12% in Q1 2024.
In Q4 2023, there were 2,683 reported cases of fraud associated with POS terminals. However, this number escalated to 3,518 cases by Q1 2024. POS fraud cases made up 30.67% of the total fraud cases (11,472) recorded in the quarter under review.
The second quarter witnessed a sharp increase in the ugly practice. A report from Nigeria’s Financial Institutions Training Centre (FITC) revealed a rising wave of fraud that cost Nigerians ₦42 billion between April and June 2024.
The report highlighted how fraudsters targeted PoS systems and mobile devices, with fraudulent activities involving the technologies reaching alarming levels.
The second-quarter report of 2024 recorded 11,532 cases of fraud, with a total value of N56.3 billion, marking a sharp increase from N34.8 billion in the first quarter. Out of this, N42.6 billion was successfully stolen, while financial institutions managed to recover N13.7 billion.
The report showed mobile fraud was the most prevalent, responsible for 33.4 per cent of the reported incidents, followed by PoS-related fraud at 24.6 per cent.
These forms of fraud, it underlined, include scams carried out through mobile apps and internet banking platforms.
Web-based fraud accounted for 16.9 per cent of the cases, underlining the growing sophistication of cybercriminals.
The FITC report also noted that most of the losses occurred at the bank branch level, where 95 per cent of the total fraud value, approximately ₦54 billion, was recorded.
According to FITC, this points to a troubling increase in insider involvement, with 49 employees dismissed for their role in these schemes during the quarter.
The report indicated fraudsters continue to exploit weaknesses in both modern and traditional systems despite advancements in digital security.
PoS terminals multiply as fraud soars
The number of POS terminals in the country has continued to rise in geometric proportion showing a relationship between the rise and the increasing cases of fraud.
Between 2017 and 2022, the number of POS terminals in Nigeria grew significantly. In 2017, there were around 155,000 terminals, while as of April 2022, this figure reached roughly 1.1 million.
By July this year (2024) the number of PoS machines deployed by merchants and individuals across Nigeria, according to the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS), rose to 3.04 million.
This represents a 32% increase year on year when compared with the number of deployed terminals in the same period last year, which was 2.3 million.
The July 2024 figure indicated that a total of 744, 533 new PoS terminals were deployed between August 2023 and July 2024.
However, as at July, the figure for deployed PoS was still lower than the total registered terminals. According to the NIBSS data, a total of 4.06 million PoS machines had been registered across the country as of July 2024, which shows that a total of 1.02 million terminals are either yet to be deployed or have become inactive.
Police counsel PoS operators
Counselling POS operators, Delta State Police Command spokesperson, Bright Edafe, said : “Anybody that wants to do transactions above N500,000 should go to the bank.
“If you as a POS operator are receiving money that is unreasonably high, understand that there is an element of crime in it, because they are supposed to go to the bank.”
The PPPRO disclosed this while parading Timothy and the innocent POS woman operator. He said: “This lady was contacted by this suspect who collected her POS account number and sent N4 million that was taken from a victim who was kidnapped into the account.”
Indiscriminate issuance of PoS machines fuelling fraud- Unegbu
A former Chartered Institute of Bankers president, Mazi Okechukwu Unegbu, blamed the rising cases of PoS fraud on indiscriminate issuance of PoS machines by banks and fintech companies without proper training. Checks showed that fintech companies particularly have their vendors moving about wooing people to take the machines.
Findings also revealed that some PoS operators sell PoS machines and get commission for as long as the machine is in use.
Deploring the practice, Unegbu said: “Part of the problem is that you have people who are not properly examined to operate PoS business. It is a fintech business, what we call financial technology business.
“Now, you have people who are not properly trained. Everybody starts PoS business without proper training.
“And I think the banks are at fault. The banks who give this PoS machines to operators, should be able to give the people training, but they are not doing that.
“They need to properly train them so that they’ll be able to know their do’s and don’ts. But once they don’t train them, they are exposed to the weather and anything can happen to them.”
Aside from banks, Unegbu also said “OPay, Palmpay and Moniepoint, among others, should be able to train PoS operators.
“And that’s why I’m talking about due diligence. The bankers should also be held responsible for the malfeasances of these PoS operators, because it is not right for them to just give the PoS machine to anybody.
“They keep going around encouraging people to take PoS, and those people who take them are not properly trained as to what they ought to do. It’s unfortunate.
“If anything happens, the banks will be held responsible too. You must give them training, telling them the do’s and don’ts, how to use the system, and how to do due diligence by examining people that come to do business with them.
“So the banks will need to have such training ingrained in these POS operators.”
Reacting to the case of Delta PoS operator engaged by kidnappers, Unegbu said: “That’s why POS people now, before they make such transactions, should carry out what we call Know Your Customer (KYC).
“You must know who you are dealing with. You can’t just do things without knowing who you are dealing with.
“Once somebody is going to do business with them, they should find out all their details and hold it just in case something happens. They can now use it, even though somebody may give false names since they are criminals.
“But the POS man should have done some due diligence operations which can be shown, so that he can be free from harassment by law enforcement authorities.”
Continuing, Unegbu said PoS operators’ banks should give them dos that don’ts emanating from central bank direction, because that’s why the CAC wants to register all of them. “So, if they are registered, you can trace them, you can know where they are. That’s why they need to be registered.
On people who register in one state and carry out their businesses in another state, Unegbu said: “Once you are registered, anywhere you are in Nigeria, you are recognized, because registration is national, not statewide, although states may require you to register with their business units because of taxation and all that.”
On the red flags that PoS operators must watch out for when dealing with customers, the ex CIBN chief said: “First of all, if somebody comes to you and starts acting funny, it should show a red flag to you. If somebody comes to do a N1 million transaction, you know it’s funny.
As a PoS operator, you should direct him to the bank. And I know banks will not do it because the banks will immediately see the trick.
“So the POS operators, if anybody comes to them to do from N1 million and above, they should raise the red flag before them.
Various PoS frauds, solutions
Flutterwave, a payment processing company that allows businesses to make and receive payments across borders, in a post, listed card skimming as one of the ways PoS frauds are carried out.
This, it said, involves bad actors attaching devices, known as skimmers, to your card readers. “The skimmers are then used to capture and store the magnetic stripe information from credit or debit cards. The information obtained is then used to create counterfeit cards and make unauthorised purchases.”
Providing safety tips to prevent card skimming, Flutterwave said: “Regularly inspect your POS terminals or card readers for any signs of tampering or unauthorised devices. If anything looks suspicious, promptly report it to your PoS provider for assistance and avoid using the terminal to collect payments.
“Cardholders should always be on the lookout for any irregularities such as someone focusing too much on your card, that might make your card information or PINs accessible without your permission.
Next pattern of PoS fraud according to Flutterwave is data breaches.
“Cybercriminals may target POS systems to gain unauthorized access and steal your customer’s sensitive information like card details, names and addresses. Such sensitive data can be exposed to other bad actors and used to commit other crimes, such as identity fraud.”
To prevent this fraud, it said: “Conduct regular security audits of POS systems and networks to identify vulnerabilities and address potential weaknesses.
“Also, encourage your customers to always monitor their card reports through their bank statements and report any unauthorised transactions to their banks immediately.”
Other forms of fraud and ways of preventing them as posted by Flutterwave are as listed below.
Employee Fraud
Dishonest employees may engage in fraud by manipulating POS transactions, providing unauthorised discounts, or conducting “sweetheart” transactions, where they collaborate with friends or accomplices to commit fraud.
Safety tip to prevent employee fraud
Safeguarding your POS business against employee fraud starts with conducting thorough background checks during every hiring process. Then, implement strict controls and access to limit your employees’ ability to manipulate your POS transactions.
Transaction reversals
Fraudsters may attempt to reverse legitimate transactions to receive a refund or credit for a purchase they did not make. This can be done through exploiting vulnerabilities in the POS system.
Safety tip to prevent transaction reversals
Set up monitoring systems that track transactions in real time and trigger alerts for unusual or high-risk activities. Keeping track will also provide you with records appropriate in cases of possible reversal fraud attempts.
Ex-federal lawmaker, Ms. Joan Onyemaechi, who was abducted in Asaba metropolis yesterday narrated her 10-day ordeal in the kidnappers’ den.
She narrated to worshippers how God saved her.
The federal legislator, who represented Aniocha/Oshimili Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, spoke in an emotion-laden voice at a church service at Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries (MFM), in Asaba, the Delta State capital.
According to her, the kidnappers, who abducted her did not know her, neither did she know them.
She said the ordeal taught her the necessity of living each day as one’s last day.
Her words: “Please, take each day of your life as if it could be the last day; I am one of those who say, God forbid when I hear, ‘take each day as if it could be the last’, but that is the reality, we should take each day as if it could be the last.
“You have come to rejoice with me but take each day as if it could be the last; when I was in the boat going to where I did not know, He (God) said, ‘I am with you.’
“I went through that journey for 10 days, and as I embarked on that journey I prayed to God. I am here with you because God said, ‘I will show mercy to whom I will show mercy,’ and I came to thank God that it pleased Him to show me mercy.
“We should begin to caution ourselves. Don’t say what you do not know. Fear God with our mouth. The people who came for me did not know me. I didn’t know them. Who went to tell them about me?
“Today, Isaac, my driver is gone. They gunned down the Inspector of Police, a man with two wives who came from Sokoto to do his job. We should be careful with what we say. our assumptions, God bless you all. Indeed, God answered His name.”
Ms. Onyemaechi was kidnapped by gunmen on July 30 from her church premises, off the DBS Road, Asaba.
At least, two persons, including a police orderly, were killed by the gunmen with others sustaining injuries during the attack.
For one of the University of Jos medical students just released from kidnappers’ den in Benue State, this is his second close shave with death.
Kingsley Fagar regained freedom from armed men penultimate Friday, nine days after gunmen ambushed him and others on the Otukpo-Enugu highway in Enugu State and held them captive for nine days.
His father,Donald Fagar, said he has every cause to thank God for delivering his son from the jaw of death again.
He said at a point, he had thought all hope was lost.
“It was the second time my son, Kingsley would be walking through the shadow of death,” he said.
Kingley’s first brush with death, according to the father, was August 15,2022, when he was “attacked and injured by hoodlums during a religious crisis.”
“I give God all the glory today because this is the second time my son will be passing through this same trauma,” she said.
“Kingsley almost lost his life two years ago on August 15.This one also happened on August 15, so it’s by the grace of God that he is coming out.
“Since the news of the release, I have been receiving phone calls; friends, family members, and neighbours congratulating us as we look forward to welcoming our son home anytime soon.”
She added, “My son called me that they were being taken to Abuja and complained that his two legs were swollen from trekking from one location to another with the kidnappers all through the bush with nowhere to sleep as they were drenched anytime it rained.”
Another victim of the kidnap, Paul Shantong,told The Nation in Jos that their release was as confounding as their abduction.
He said: “It came to a point the kidnappers decided to release us. We don’t know what transpired between them and their leaders, they just asked to go in a particular direction and they left and disappeared into the forest. They showed us one path and asked us to go, telling us that after walking for 30 minutes, we would see a market . So, we began the journey, but our legs were badly injured because we had no shoes. Our toes were bruised, and we had many injuries on our legs. We managed to keep walking.
“Around 10 PM, nobody could move anymore, so we all just lay down on the rail track, discussing and negotiating what to do next.
“The security people were still trying to locate us. They told us (by phone) that if we saw a light in the sky, we should let them know. As they got closer, we started seeing the light, and we asked them to flash it on and off so we could confirm it was them. They did, and we knew it was them. They kept getting closer, and around 11 PM, they finally reached us. They helped carry us out, some on their backs and others in other ways.
“When the security people finally reached us, they took the 27 of us, or was it 25, out of the bush on motorcycles.
“Yes, they took us on motorcycles. On motorcycles.
Says they fed us raw cassava, made us trek for 15 hours
Freedom account negates police ‘rescue’ narrative
They rained bullets on our vehicle and another Sharon car that had five passengers. Clearly, they didn’t care if anyone got hit or we died.
“In fact, I learnt later that a woman in the other car was hit by a bullet. The bullets also hit our vehicle tyres and we were demobilised.
“They then ordered us to get down and lie flat on the ground. I initially thought they were policemen because most of them were wearing police uniforms. But on a second thought, it occurred to me that the police would not open fire on vehicles like that.
“I actually wasn’t sure of what was happening until they asked us to start moving into the forest at gunpoint.”
Above were the words of Johnson Abalaka (real name withheld for security reasons), one of the ‘rescued’ 20 medical students of the University of Maiduguri and University of Jos, who were kidnapped on Thursday August 15 and held captive for nine days.
Clearly, the experience was such a tough and traumatic one for the youngster that he shuddered and shivered from mere recollection and had to be persuaded and repeatedly guaranteed anonymity before he agreed to speak.
Besides, they had been advised by parents, relatives, even their university authorities and the police, to steer clear of journalists.
Recalling the grueling experience, Abalaka said he could not exactly identify where they were ambushed, but said they were on their way from the University of Jos to Enugu for the Federation of Catholic Medical and Dental Students (FECAMDS) annual convention holding in Enugu, and had only just left Mechanic Village Otukpo when it happened.
“When the bullets hit our tyres and we could no longer move, they came from nowhere and started barking at us to come down. Almost immediately, they also started flogging us and ordering us to lie down. It was totally unexpected.
“We were forced to trek far into the forest. If I can recollect correctly, I think we trekked for 15 hours from that moment. We trekked the whole night and they only granted us few minutes of rest if they realised we were too tired to continue.”
Abalaka, who could not recall which was more gruesome between the hunger and thirst they were subjected to and the harrowing trekking in the forest, added: “On one occasion, we were made to trek from 6pm to 5am the following day. We trekked such distance about three times.
“I understood they had to keep moving us because they didn’t want to stay in one place and risk being tracked and cornered by the police.”
Asked what they were being fed to give them strength to trek such long distances, Abalaka hissed and laughed at the same time. Then he sneered: “Food? We were given raw cassava. Sometimes if we got lucky and they made fire, they roasted them. But more of the times, they gave them to us raw.”
For water, Abalaka said: “That was worse. It was so hard to get water that if we were able to as much as get a drop, we were glad.
“And what kind of water are we talking about? Usually when we complained so badly and they came to a river, they would just scoop with two or three empty bottles of soft drink and shove them at us.
“It was from those bottles that the 25 of us would drink until we came to another river or stream.
“In between, there were days we went without a single drop of water.”
So did he really eat the raw cassava? Couldn’t he reject or refuse?
“No, we couldn’t. Anything they gave us, they made sure we ate or at least you must collect and pretend to be eating.
“So usually, I collected, hold onto it and later give it to somebody else when they’re not looking. But the roasted ones, I ate. Usually that’s when they made fire after rainfall.”
Considering his frail nature, how did he manage to stay healthy under such condition?
Again, Abalaka’s sense of humour comes to the fore: “Healthy, was I healthy?” he asked, provoking laughter on both ends.
As far as he is concerned, he survived unscathed by God’s grace and protection. “How I managed to survive despite the horrible condition we were subjected to still beats my imagination.
“You won’t believe it, I didn’t have malaria despite the mosquitoes, and I didn’t have catarrh. All the nine days, we were in the open, trekking, standing, sitting and sleeping. Not a single moment under a proper shelter, except if you want to consider trees as shades.
“We were under the rain for six straight days and nights, because it rained constantly those six days. And we had nothing to warm ourselves.
“On two occasions, we came to an uncompleted three-storey structure. Somebody obviously was building an estate there.
“Each time we came there, we heard sound of moving vehicles. Clearly, it was close to a major road, but we didn’t have any idea where it was.
“We also met another gang there, and from the way they interacted, it was clear they knew each other and what business they were into.
“Somehow, I never heard or saw any of my colleagues and the people from the other vehicle complain of diarrhea or stomach pain despite eating raw cassava and drinking river water.
“Even the trekking we did bare-footed. Again, I thank God I was able to pull through despite the injuries under my feet.
“Most of us were not able to come out with our shoes during the stampede that followed the attack on our bus. And those who had theirs on had them confiscated once they saw that they were nice shoes.
“So none of us wore any shoes throughout the nine days.”
Asked if they were beaten, Abalaka scoffed, and then said “beating was a constant, especially whenever they just finished speaking with our parents and they didn’t get the response they expected.
“They also beat us if we were not able to keep up with their pace.
“Usually, they dragged us like cattle, so they beat us the way they beat cattle to match their pace.
“Even when we matched their pace, they still beat us. I think they just wanted to subject us to traumatic treatment. I don’t know; it was hell!”
Get funny and get killed
Asked if he gave up hope while they were going through all this or they were hoping to be rescued, Abalaka said: “At a point, I thought it would never come to the point that I would be talking to anyone about it. Then there were occasions when I thought of escaping, as we were being led through the bush; but it wasn’t easy as they were very alert.
“Besides, they kept telling us that if anyone tried any mess or try to escape, he would be killed instantly. So I resigned myself to fate.
“However, the thought to escape kept coming to my mind, especially when we came to very dark places.”
In the earlier days, the impression outside was that the kidnappers allowed them to keep their phones, which was bizarre. How true?
Abalaka explained: “They didn’t have smart phones; that’s why. But later that same first day, they said we were being tracked through our phones, so they collected all the phones.
“They then took one of our SIM cards and inserted it in their phones. It was through that that they were calling out.
“Later, they told us they had thrown the phones away because carrying them along was dangerous for them.”
Of what ethnic group were these people and how much were they demanding?
“Clearly, they were Fulani people. We got to know that by their structure, dressing and the language they spoke.
“From what I heard, they were also demanding N50 million ransom. Like I said, they normally got incensed and beat us every time they came away from the phone with our people without any sign that the money was coming soon.”
Asked how many females were among the captives, Abalaka said: ‘There were four females; two from amongst us and two from the other vehicle.”
However, he said there was no sexual harassment of any sort on them.
Freedom
How did they regain their freedom? The police said they were rescued. Was there a gun duel between the police and the kidnappers? Did anyone get hurt?
At this point, Abalaka became a bit confused. First he said, yes, they were rescued. Later he said the kidnappers let them go and showed them the way to a rail line from where they were able to contact the police, who now came to pick them up.
“One of us was able to successfully hide his phone. So when they released us, it was his phone that guided us.
“It was when we got to the rail line that we called and told the police to follow the rail line and that they’d see us. Already, the stones along the rail line had further made trekking unbearable for us because of our badly bruised and torn feet.”
From your narration, it appears the kidnappers let you go, as against the ‘rescue’ narrative, the reporter prodded.
“I don’t know how to explain it. If they say the police rescued us, I’d say yes they did. But where we were, there was no exchange of gunshots or any kind of confrontation. Ultimately, I’d say God did his work. What I can say categorically is that the police picked us up at a point.”
Asked if he would consider the kidnappers human from the way they treated them, the young man answered in the negative.
“Of course they are not normal at all. But you know, however hardened anyone can be, they’d always have their sober moments when they realise what they were doing was not right or even be moved to pity.
“I observed that there were some of them who displayed their humane side, especially when we cried out for water, pleading with us to exercise patience, especially when they were not high on drugs.
“But there were some who shouted us down and even beat us up on those occasions. All through they were smoking all sorts of roots, hemp and drinking all sorts.”
The trauma
While he expressed joy at been home, free and reunited with his dad, mum, grandmother and the rest of his family and friends, one could deduce that the young man was not yet free from the trauma of the nine days.
“I just feel that my head is not clear yet, because when I was in Abuja, I heard the sound of gunshots and I was terrified. It’s a sound I don’t want to hear again.
“What that tells me is that I need to see a therapist. Somehow, I am feeling a bit of relief as I’m sharing it with you. So I believe seeing a therapist will help me get out of it quickly.”
Is he also scared of travelling?
“Not really,” he answered. “Somehow I feel God has a hand in everything that happened. Don’t forget we were on a mission to a convention of Federation of Catholic Medical and Dental Students.
“Maybe if I was going on a personal stuff, this grace might not have happened. So, I’m not scared of travelling.
“In any case, when we were moved to Abuja, we still followed the road. I just feel that my head is not clear yet. But I’ll be fine.”
The Enugu State Police Command yesterday paraded some of the 123 suspected kidnappers, armed robbers and other criminals it arrested between July and August.
The Commissioner of Police (CP), Kanayo Uzuegbu, who paraded some of the suspects at the state command headquarters, said several incriminating exhibits were recovered during the operations, while many of the suspects had been arraigned and remanded in the Nigerian Correctional Custodial Centres.
The CP also said 19 abducted/kidnapped victims were rescued during the period under review, adding that his officers and men also recovered 15 AK-47 and assault rifles recovered and 25 pump action guns.
He further added that 35 other ammunition and 710 live ammunition of various calibres, with 187 live cartridges recovered as well as 17 vehicles and eleven tricycles were recovered within the period.
The CP also used the opportunity to dispel the rumoured kidnapping of some persons around the Enugu State College of Health Technology, Oji-River.
He said: “Rather, the four persons, three of whom were not students of the school, allegedly kidnapped around the College on August 14, 2024, have all been rescued and reunited with their families.
“Meanwhile, be informed that the suspects involved have been arrested and are undergoing interrogation.
“Also, the peddler of the unwarranted panic news on the incident has been traced and he has been apologising for the mischievous act.
“Similarly, the sinister plans of the IPOB/ESN secessionist renegades to attack the police operatives and cause collateral damage at 4-Corner, along the Enugu/Port-Harcourt Expressway, on August 18, 2024, were squarely thwarted by the operatives.
“The militants, dressed in security forces uniforms and operating in a snatched Lexus 350 Jeep, suddenly opened fire on the patrol team on approaching the operatives.
“However, the operatives returned fire-for-fire and immobilised the Lexus Jeep, forcing the hoodlums to snatch a Toyota Camry car and escape the scene with varying degrees of gunshot wounds.’’
Gang member caught by residents, footage captures scene of operation
An attempt by a four-man gang to kidnap the proprietor of a pharmacy store in Oko-Oba area of Agege, Lagos was foiled by residents who also apprehended one of the fleeing suspects as exclusive footage captures the scene of the operation, KUNLE AKINRINADE reports.
The Honda Acura car landed in a ditch with a bang as it raced at a neck-breaking speed, causing a pandemonium on Ogundele Street in Oko-Oba area of Agege, Lagos on Monday.
A crowd of sympathetic residents rushed to the scene to rescue the occupants of the vehicle only to discover that they were kidnappers.
The criminal gang comprising four young boys had kidnapped a popular owner of a pharmacy in the area, Samuel Oshanugor, hounded him into his car and were leaving the scene when the car had the accident. Their victim rushed out of the car and raised the alarm that he had been kidnapped.
The sympathetic residents became outraged and descended on the kidnappers who fled in different directions. Luck however ran out on one of them described as the kingpin.
The suspect, Joseph Yusuf, who was armed with a pistol, was given a hot chase as he ran towards one of the adjoining streets where he was apprehended by a relentless group of residents.
The irate residents dealt him blows and hit him with clubs. Sources said that by the time the suspect was handed over to the Abattoir Police Division, the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) had to cough out an undisclosed amount for the treatment of his badly injured body.
The gang had hatched and perfected the plan to abduct the pharmacist, and monitored the victim, who runs Samtex Pharmacy, until he was about to close his store for the day. They then accosted and bundled him into his car without anyone around noticing what was going on.
It was in their effort to zoom off that the car had an accident and they abandoned the car and fled in different directions after the pharmacist raised the alarm.
According to sources, the suspects were lodged in a nearby hotel from where they asked one of them to monitor their target.
A footage of the operation obtained by our reporter shows moments three members of the four-man gang arrived at separate times in the vicinity and pretended to be waiting for someone to deceive unsuspecting residents and passers-by.
Two of the gang’s members were armed with pistols while the third member wielded a machete. Yusuf was seen smashing a bench outside the pharmacy after his colleagues held Oshanugor captive in his store.
The 22-year-old suspect was to later open up on how the plot to kidnap their victim was hatched at Ijaiye-Ojokoro area of Lagos.
He said: “Jamiu Scatter and his younger brother invited me to join them for a party in Oko Oba. However, they dropped off one of their friends at a place in Oko Oba, and when I asked them the location of the party, they opened up that we were going for an operation in Oko-Oba.
“When we got there, they brought out a bottle and machete, monitoring movements around the vicinity and urging me not to entertain any fear.
“When the pharmacist was about entering his car, I told them that I noticed that some people were approaching.
“Jamiu Scatter then gave me a gun but I dropped it on the floor and moved away. I told them that I could not fire a shot because I don’t know how to handle a pistol.
“I am 22 years old. I was born in 2002 and I live with my aunt in Alagbado because I have lost my mother and my grandmother.
“This is my first time of going out with the gang, and I am not lying.”
Yusuf said the gang targeted Oshanugor for kidnap after a member of the gang patronised his store three days earlier.
“One of our members purchased a drug called Augmentin from Samtex Pharmacy three days before the operation and he felt that the owner could afford to pay ransom if kidnapped.
“We went there on a motorbike. The motorbike operator was the one that seized the car key from the victim. Jamiu Scatter is a tout in the Ijaiye area of Alagbado, while I am a motor boy.
“We were five on the motorbike but one of us disembarked from the bike while four of us proceeded with the operation.
“When the victim came out of his store, Jamiu Scatter’s younger brother moved into his store while two of us accosted him and asked him to cooperate with us, saying that we were kidnappers.
“I was asked to stay in front of a mosque at the other end of the road to monitor movements.
“Apart from Scatter, his brother and myself, the other person was recruited for the operation from the popular shrine at Ikeja.”
Yusuf added: “I was not the one that jumped the fence of a nearby building to escape from the scene. I walked on foot after dropping the gun on the ground.”
A witness told our reporter that the loud noise from the car when it got stuck in a ditch attracted residents to the scene.
“When we heard the noise, we thought that it was an accident. But when it occurred to us that they were hoodlums, all of us trooped outside and started throwing stones and bottles at the hoodlums, thinking that they were robbers.
“We summoned the courage to pursue the hoodlums after we found that they were kidnappers as they fled after their victim came out of the car.
“After combing the area, we were able to intercept one of the suspects, who has since been handed over to the police.
“Detectives later brought the suspect to the spot where he was apprehended and the pistol he dropped there was found.”
Reliving his experience, Oshanugor, 56, said he had given up everything to God the moment the hooded kidnappers seized him.
He said: “It was last week Monday, the 15th of July 2024, at about 9 pm. I entered my car to put in some documents, but before I could come out, someone was standing beside me, pointing a pistol at my forehead.
“He told me that he did not come to rob me but to kidnap me. He said if I behaved gently we would drive away, but if I proved tough, his life, not mine, would be wasted.
“I told him that I would cooperate with him but that the car keys were in the shop. He then commanded me to go and bring them.
“He closely followed me to the shop while two (other members of the gang) were outside making sure that the coast was clear.
“I gave him the car keys and he also collected the three phones with me and ordered me to enter the back seat of the car with one of them sitting beside me, one behind the driving wheel and the last one standing in the centre of the road.
“By this time, according to Williams Shakespeare’s saying that bad news travels faster than good news, the news had spread and the whole road and street had become deserted.
“As he put the car in reverse gear, the car rolled back and got stuck somewhere. All attempts to move the car forward proved abortive.
“In their moment of confusion, I ran out of the car and entered our mini mart that’s directly opposite the pharmacy, locked myself therein and then switched off the outside light.
“I did not know how they eventually left. I only came out when the youths in the community were throwing bottles on the road and smashing the car glasses, thinking the car belongs to the kidnappers.
“All thanks to God, before the end of the day, one of the kidnappers was caught with his pistol. On Friday, the remaining two were also arrested.”
“While I was sandwiched by the kidnappers in my car, I only prayed that the will of God be done. My happiness is that God frustrated their evil plan and I was not murdered.
“My happiness is that my car was not stolen. My happiness is that people did not gather to sympathise with my wife Olubukola, who is a Yoruba from the Epe area of Lagos State.
“My happiness is that I am alive and healthy. Although they damaged my car that is not an issue as the most important thing is that I am alive, and that is worth more than a car.
“I also appreciate the community for coming out to save me, and I promised to always be three whenever they need me because they came out en-mass to chase the kidnappers.
“I learnt that they lodged in a hotel to plan the operation and even asked one of them to mount surveillance and monitor my movement.
“The leader of the gang has been identified as an alleged murderer who killed a man preparing to travel to the United States of America not too long ago.
“He was discharged by a court and he went back to his criminal activities.”
The spokesman of the Lagos State Police Command, Mr Benjamin Hundeyin, a Superintendent of Police (SP), was yet to respond to inquiries on the case at press time.
Four corps members and one artisan, abducted last week along the Akure-Benin highway, have recounted how they spent four days in the kidnappers den before they were released.
The victims said their families paid N5m with other items before they were released.
Other items collected by the kidnappers were three packs of Hollandia yoghurt, two loaves of bread, one carton of Peak milk, one pack of malt, bottles of Fearless drink, one pack of cigarette and 10 packs of cooked rice and chicken and N1m each totalling N5m.
It was learnt the corps members were returning home after the three-week National Youth Service Corps Orientation camp in Enugu and Abia States.
Two persons, including the driver and a female passenger, were shot dead by the kidnappers.
One of the victims, Patience Andrew, said the kidnappers initially demanded N30m for each of them but later reduced it to N1m.
She said they were beaten and made to drink garri and dirty water once a day.
According to her: “We boarded a bus from Abia State to Onitsha but our driver was not fast enough. One of the park drivers took us to where we boarded another bus going to Akure, we got there around 2 pm but the driver did not take off immediately, so we left Onitsha park around 5 pm with nine passengers in a Sienna bus.
“We got to Ondo state around 10 pm and that was when the incident happened. They flashed a torch light on the driver and the driver said “Oga I no see you”
“They just shot him twice the moment he made that statement and the woman sitting next to him was killed. One guy too was butchered, two people died and we don’t know about the guy that was butchered because he ran away.
“Then they brought us out of the vehicle and took us inside the bush, we trekked from past 10 pm till around 7 am the following day in the bush. The kidnappers were five in number and their age range should be around 25 years. They were speaking the Hausa/Fulani language and they had one interpreter.
“They tortured us and we were only given garri and water once a day. At first, they asked for N30 million per person but as the negotiation was going they brought it down to N3m so they now asked us to bring in N1 million each.
“We slept inside the bush throughout the day, we heard the bark of a dog and the sound of a cow in the bush and we also passed through farmland when we were coming out, and we didn’t meet anybody on the road then our brothers came with what N1m.”
