By Boluwa Obahopo, Lokoja
The increasing rate of kidnapping in Kogi has turned
the state into an haven of kidnapping. The cries of
residents are disheartening. From the Kogi Central
Senatorial axis to the Eastern flank of the state, the
gory tales of kidnapping have become a recurring
decimal. Even the Western Senatorial axis that
seemed to be free from such dastardly acts has
recorded its own fair share of kidnapping tales.
Since
2013,
when
kidnapping began to sow seed in the state, the rate
has continued to increase unabated. Previous
Commissioners of Police, just like the present one,
Mr. Adeyemi Samuel Ogunjemilusi had spoken tough
against the perpetrators of the acts, but the threats
appeared to have made no impact as kidnappers, on
each passing day, seem to be on top of their game.
In recent times, the state has apparently equalled the
trend of kidnapping common with its counterpart
states in the Southern parts of the country, especially
South-East and South-South, where kidnapping is
almost a daily occurrence.
Presently, there is apprehension in the state
occasioned by increasing cases of kidnapping as no
one knows who would be the next victim. Wealthy
individuals in the state now live in fear as they and
their family members are the target of the
kidnappers, who hold their victims and use them to
negotiate for huge ransoms.
As to be expected, 80 percentage of such kidnappings
are high-profile cases. Though every victim’s family
always claim not to have paid ransom for the release
of their loved one, cases of kidnapping keep
increasing in the state, thereby disputing the claims
that no ransom was paid, and which clearly confirms
the rising trend as lucrative to the masterminders.
Between June 2013 to last year June, close to fifteen
persons were reportedly kidnapped with other cases
dealt with silently to the ignorance of the media, a
development which some pundits opine must have
worked seriously against the state government’s
frantic efforts to woo investors to the state.
The first reported case of kidnapping in 2013
occurred when one Mustapha was said to have been
adopted at his home in Ihima in Okehi Local
Government Area of the state, but unfortunately, he
was later found dead and buried inside a forest in
the area some weeks after.
While that was said to be political, sometime in
August of that same year, the younger brother of the
former governor of the state, Prince Abubakar Audu
was kidnapped by gunmen at his Aloma home in Ofu
Local Government Area of the state.
He was later released after two weeks in captivity,
followed by the arrest of the suspect whose bank
account was used to demand initial ransom of
N30,000 for the upkeep of the victim.
As the dust of Audu’s brother’s kidnap was settling
down, the burser of the Federal Polytechnic, Idah, in
Idah Local Government Area of the state was
kidnapped while his younger brother who was with
him was killed in the process.
However, the bursar was released after three weeks
in captivity following the payment of undisclosed
amount as ransom.
In 2014, the kidnappers commenced their trade as
early as February when the wife and daughter of the
former Chairman of Adavi Local Government, Salihu
Adaviruku was kidnapped in their house. The woman
and her daughter spent over three weeks in the
kidnappers’ captivity before they were released after
undisclosed ransom was paid to the kidnappers.
Barely a month after the release of the Adavi Local
Government Chairman’s wife and daughter, two sons
of the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Hon
Momohjimoh Lawal were kidnapped at his residence
in Okene, Okene Local Government Area. The
children had to stay in captivity for over two months
as a result of the inability of the Speaker to meet up
with the N200 million ransom demanded.
Though the police arraigned five women in court in
connection with the Speaker’s children abduction, the
case has continued to linger on without much
positive result.
While the people of the Central were still battling with
the kidnap of the Speaker’s two sons, on May 28,
2014, Hajia Hawawu Bello, mother of the Managing
Director and Chief Executive Officer of Fair Plus
Transport, Alhaji Yahaya Bello who was also a
governorship aspirant under the All Progressive
Congress (APC) was kidnapped at her Nagazi
residence in Adavi Local Government Area.
By and large, the kidnapping train moved back to
Kogi East, as the rector of the Federal Polytechnic,
Idah, Mathew Akpata was abducted but luck smiled
on him when the vehicle in which his abductors were
conveying him to their hideout got involved in an
accident and the rector was abandoned inside the
boot of the car.
Also on May 31, 2014, the registrar of the same
polytechnic, Abu Kazim was abducted from his house
at the institution premises.
The most dastard act last year was the abduction of
80-year-old American Missionary, Rev. Phyllis Sortor.
Sortor’s abduction too occurred two days after a
director of Adavi Local Government, Abdulazeez
Ohere who had been kidnapped, was rescued by the
police from his abductors.
Rev. Sortor’s kidnapping nearly resulted in
international problem for the country, which had to
rely on Interpol and other security operatives to
secure her release. Immediately after her release,
she was whisked away to America and has since then
never set foot in the state.
The kidnappers were said to have also recently
invaded Emi-woro, a village in Ajaokuta Local
Government Area at about 10 am, where their victim,
a woman, runs a nursery/primary school, Hope
Academy. They forcefully pulled her out of her office
and scaled with her over the fence, then took her
away through the forest behind the school.
How Chinese, Police encourage kidnapping in the
state
Kidnapping in the state has always occurred mostly
in the Kogi Central Senatorial flank, and was not as
frequent until the Chinese firm, CGC, came into the
area. Saturday Vanguard gathered from a reliable
source that since November 2013, when a Chinese
worker was kidnapped in Ganaja village, a suburb of
Lokoja metropolis, kidnapping has soared.
The police advice to the Chinese firm not to pay the
ransom demanded was rebuffed. The Chinese firm
refused to wait for the security operative to handle
the matter. The Chinese firm, apparently not sure
that the police could handle the situation, quickly
danced to the tune of the kidnappers and paid the
demanded ransom. That was a great undoing.
Between the next 30 days, 7 other Chinese workers
were secretly abducted, and ransom secretly paid for
their release. The state government only got wind of
the incidents when the Chinese Ambassador visited
the state last December, and informed the state
government of the ordeal his citizens encountered in
the hands of the kidnappers while working on the
Ajaokuta Road. Since then, the kidnappers have
gotten serious with the ‘business’ in view of the ease
in getting ransom as encouraged by the Chinese.
Another source also said kidnapping continued
unabated in the state because some police officers
are also part of the kidnapping cartel as they leak
information to the kidnappers and also offer
themselves as go-between for the family in
negotiating ransom with the kidnappers.
While the people of the state were about heaving a
sign of relief from these ugly incidents, hoping the
trend was gone with last year, unknown gunmen this
year attacked and kidnapped a high court judge,
Justice Samuel Obayomi of Ebogogo High Court in
Adavi Local Government Area.
Saturday Vanguard gathered that the gunmen who
attacked the judge while on his way to the office
around 8:45am also shot his orderly, Cpl. Usman
Musa who died on the spot. The whole operation was
said to have lasted only five minutes.
The official driver of the judge, Mr Ajayi Kolawole
who gave insights into the incident said the heavily-
armed gunmen who were not masked but wore dark
glasses and numbering about three, stopped the car
at the front of Executive Guest Villa, GRA, Okene. “The
gunmen had ordered the judge and his aides to lie
face down. We all complied but the hoodlums
perhaps saw the armed orderly as a threat and
opened fire on him, killing him on the spot.”
Area Commander of the Okene Area Command, Mr.
Kehinde Kolawole who confirmed the story said the
police had detained the driver to help in their
investigation, adding that the driver being an
eyewitness, was likely to give them useful
information.
Barely a week after Justice Obayomi’s kidnap, the
state Commissioner for Land and Survey, Engr.
Stephen Mayaki was also kidnapped by unknown
gunmen.
The commissioner was kidnapped at gunpoint on his
farmland located in Osara, in Adavi Local
government Area of the state, the same LGA where
the high court judge was kidnapped.
Sources said the gunmen, numbering about 5, and in
a Prado Jeep, traced the commissioner to his farm
where he had gone to oversee the operations of his
workers. “The commissioner was on the farm when
gunmen emerged from the bush and kidnapped him
at gunpoint and took him away to an unknown
destination,” a reliable source revealed.
The commissioner was said to have been abducted
along with four others who were later freed to go and
source for fund for his release. It took a week before
the commissioner was released. This time around,
the police, keeping a sealed-lip over the ransom paid,
only said the commissioner had been “re-united with
his family.”
N150m ransom
Kidnappers of the high court judge were said to have
demanded N150m ransom to effect his release, but
they later slashed it to N30 million. Rumours also
abound that he has been killed following the failure
of the family to raise the ransome. This however
could not be ascertained as at when this report was
being filed.
NBA, JUSUN embark on strike over kidnapping
The situation has made the Nigerian Bar Association
(NBA) and the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria
(JUSUN) Kogi State chapters to down tools in the
state, in protest over the kidnapping of Justice
Obayomi.
The professional bodies, in separate statements
made available to Saturday Vanguard in Lokoja, said
the they were protesting what they termed “gagging”
of justice in the state.
The NBA announced the withdrawal of their services
from the courts across the state through a statement
jointly signed by chairmen of four branches of the
NBA in the state: Amechi Obiechina, Chief Tunji
Ologbonjo, Ibrahim Isiaka and J. Akubo of Okene,
Kabba, Idah and Lokoja branches respectively: “As a
result of this sad event, lawyers in the four branches
of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) in the state have
resolved that no lawyer should engage in any court
proceeding until the whereabouts of his Lordship is
known”, the statement said.
It continued: “Lawyers cannot be engaging in court
proceedings when the judges who preside over their
cases are attacked and kidnapped on their way to
court.”
The NBA however called on the state government to
face the new crime escalation in the state with
renewed vigour by deploying more police to crime-
prone areas of the state.
The JUSUN in its own statement issued at the end of
its emergency state Executive Council (SEC) meeting
signed by its Chairman, Daniel Adinoyi and Secretary,
Aminu, condemned the spate of kidnapping in the
state, alleging that similar event occurred in 2013
when Justice Moses Gwatana of High Court, Ihima
was attacked and shot by unknown gunmen.
The statement stated: “JUSUN condemns in totality
the abduction of Hon. Justice Samuel Obayomi of the
High Court of Justice, Ebogogo by unknown gunmen
on the 25th of May, 2015. In view of the above, the
SEC in Session resolved to embark on a three-day
sympathy strike with effect from the 3rd of June, 2015
to 6th June, 2015.”
The body however called on the state government
and security agencies in the state to expedite action
on measures being taken to secure the release of
Justice Obayomi, calling for adequate security
measures for all judicial officers.
Kogi Gov places N5m bounty on kidnappers
Piqued by the incessant rate of kidnapping, the State
Governor, Capt. Idris Wada placed a N5m cash
reward on anyone who volunteered information
towards the arrest of any kidnapper who had laid
siege to the state in recent times.
Announcing the reward at the state Police
Headquarters, Wada who paid a solidarity visit to the
Police Headquarters said his administration would
do everything possible to ensure that the state was
safe for residents and investors.
His words: “My presence here today is to give moral
support to men and officers of the state Police
Command who have been toiling to ensure that the
state is free of criminal elements. With my discussion
with the state CP, I am confident that the police are
capable of tackling the issue of criminality in the
state.
“Let me say now that the state government has
earmarked the sum of N5m for anybody who
volunteers information towards the capturing of any
kidnapper who has been terrorising the state in
recent times. With the efforts of the people through
rightful information, the security operatives will
conquer these criminal gangs. We must not allow
these kidnappers win this war.”
Wada donated N200,000 to each of the 12 police
officers from the Command who died in the line of
duty this year. He also promised additional 5 Hilux
vehicles to those already procured by the State
Security Task Force (KOSTF), as a means of assisting
the police in fighting crime and criminality.
IG deploys 350 extra personnel to tackle kidnapping
The state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Adeyemi
Samuel Ogunjemilusi also said the Inspector-General
of Police (IGP) Solomon Arase has deployed 350
police officers to the state to assist the state Police
Command in its effort to combat crime in the state.
The CP who commended the IGP for the deployment
of the police personnel to the state, appealed to the
people to reciprocate the gesture by giving useful
information that would assist the police in their bid
to rid the state of criminality.
Ogunjemilusi who said the state was winning the war
against crime, added that the kidnapping case had
put the state in a bad light because it involved high-
profile people.
The rate of kidnapping in the state has reached its
crescendo. If nothing is done, the image of the state
will grow from bad to worse. No one is safe. Fear
reigns all over the state. Even the state Commissioner
of Police, Adeyemi Ogunjemilusi was recently
rumoured to have been kidnapped too. It is as bad as
that!