•78-year-old victim rescued
It was a long drive from the city centre. And for the few reporters and photojournalists who chose to follow policemen to a newly discovered kidnappers’ den in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, it all looked like news from afar.
The road from the Ibadan-Ife Expressway was so rough that it looked as if we were going hunting in a thick bush. But fear could not penetrate reporters’ heart because the team of policemen was led by the Commissioner of Police, Mohammed Katsina.
But it was real for 78-year-old businessman, Chief Adebowale Omotoso, who was abducted last Wednesday, in Aawe, Afijio Local Government Area.
Omotoso, who is the Chairman, Bond Chemicals Limited and National Life Vice-President of Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), was said to be meeting with some chiefs, when a three-man gang arrived his house.
The kidnappers, it was gathered, posed as launderers, who came to return Omotoso’s clothes.
He was kidnapped shortly after his return from a trip to the United States, where he was hospitalised.
The businessman had been rescued earlier in the day by policemen, who launched an onslaught on the eight-man gang of kidnappers in their hide-out.
The men did not give up easily. They put up a good fight as they engaged policemen in a gun duel for about four hours before they were overpowered.
Basking in the air of freedom, the septuagenarian recollected how he panted and bowed before the kidnappers, all of who are possibly younger than his last child.
He was kept at a secret location before he was brought to their hideout in Ajia village on the Ibadan-Ife Expressway.
Looking weary but happy, Chief Omotoso gladly spoke to anxious reporters.
He said: “I was chatting with some friends around 7:30pm when some men came in and waved guns at us. They told us to lie on the ground and started demanding for the dollars I had in the house.
“They searched around and took whatever they wanted. I thought that was the end. Then I was taken into a vehicle and blindfolded.
”The car was driven roughly to one village. I was dumped there for about three days without anything to eat.
“Later, I was told I was being taken to Edo. I was blindfolded and brought here.
“I thought I was in Edo until the police rescued me today. It is even a miracle that I was not killed.
“ I was not treated well in the first place I was taken but when I was brought here, I was fairly treated. I was asked what I wanted to eat.”
The victim was holed out from a dilapidated mud building in the mini village that consists of only two mud houses.
The building, whose roof was tattered, was surrounded by three shrines. None of the rooms had been inhabited in the last 10 years going by their looks and degradation. It should ordinarily be a habitat for reptiles, rats and other animals.
Chief Omotoso was kept in one of the rooms for three days. He was supplied with a large plank which he used as a bed. The “bed” covered a big hole in the room.
The kidnappers, led by 34-year-old Bisi Babatunde, watched over him there as they negotiated for a ransom with his family. Bisi, a mother of three, hails from Aawe.
According to her, the kidnap was a N5.5 million deal of which she got N750,000.
She explained that she lives in Port-Harcourt where she sells local herbs.
Her words: “I have been in the business of advanced fee fraud and kidnapping for at least, five years.
“I have two cars. I lead gangs from Port-Harcourt to Ibadan.”
Reveling in the joy of success, the police commissioner said his men swung into action when the case was reported.
He said the kidnappers demanded $1 million, which the police used as a bait to rescue the victim.
“Barely two weeks to my arrival in this city, I was confronted with a disturbing phenomenon, which was the kidnap of a 78-year-old man.
“ I launched an operation, “Hell Wind”, to rescue the victim.
“After a fierce battle with my newly constituted ambush squad, we came in. We engaged the hoodlums in a definite shoot-out till the wee hours of yesterday morning.
“As a result of our resilience and continuous onslaught, the hoodlums‘ defence line was weakened; they ran helter skelter, leaving behind their victim.
“We were able to arrest seven of them while two escaped with bullet wounds.
“I will use this medium to appeal to the public, especially traditional gun bullet extractors and hospitals, to report promptly any gunshot case.
“They should be aware that this is the work of veteran kidnappers. Some of them came all the way from Port-Harcourt to join their partners in crime here.
“I want to assure the people that the state will not be a breeding ground for criminals.”
Katsina said Bisi (aka Vivian) was on the police’s wanted list in Rivers State for her alleged involvement in kidnap and fraud cases.
Bisi said her boyfriend, Lucky, who is the second in command in the gang, was involved in another kidnap which resulted in her car being seized.
This propelled her to relocate to Awe, her home town.
She said: “We do not call ourselves by our real names. My guy name is Vivian. I am 34 years old. I met Olaide in Awe; I went to meet him for prayers and charm.
“He asked me for the kind of job Lucky and I do and I told him.
“Then he told me about his younger brother who died in a pool in the chief’s house and that the chief does not want to settle the family.
“He brought the idea of kidnapping the man. I do not know the man before. I was paid N750, 000. Lucky collected N5.5 million.
“It was when we were looking for a location to keep the chief that I met Mr Ola. He was the one who brought us to this building, this location. He was paid N1 million.”
Six other members of the gang arrested are Alabi Olufemi, the gang driver; Isiaka Kazeem, the spiritualist; Ayobami Musa; Shittu Olajide; Ajayi Olaniyi, and Oladipupo Abayomi. Lucky is on the run.
Items recovered from include arms and ammunition, cash and charms.
