Vanguard learnt that family
members of the kidnapped
boy, who owned a well-
known school around Ishaga
area of Lagos state, were in a
state of sadness after his
abduction, making them to
isolate themselves from the
society afterwards.On Friday, June 10, men of
the Nigerian Police Force
revealed that its operatives at
the Inspector General of
Police Special Intelligence
Response Team (SIRT),
tracked down the suspected
kidnappers to their secret
abode at Ishaga, Agege and
Egbeda, all in Lagos, and
thereafter apprehended
three members of the gangIn the course of the raid on
the suspects, men of the SIRT
recovered a locally made gun.
In the process, two members
of the kidnap gang escaped,
and they are still being
trailed.
The suspected criminals said
it was the need for cash that
made them kidnap the four-
year old boy. The suspects
identified themselves as Paul
Ibara, Ifeanyi Obi and Tunde
Edu.
While explaining further,
Vanguard gathered that Edu
and Obi said Ibara, who
always calls himself ‘Mopol’
tricked them to become
members of the gang.
Ibara, 36, is an indigene of
Akwa-Ibom state. He
explained that he became a
criminal so that he could
raise money and save his
father, who he said was
diagnosed with prostate
cancer.
Ibara stated:
“I live with my wife and
children at Ishaga. I went
into crime because my father
was sick. He had prostate
cancer. I was in Maiduguri,
when he fell sick and I took
excuse and came back to see
him. When I saw him, his
condition was very bad and
the doctors wanted to do a
surgery on him. The hospital
at Uyo demanded N450,000
but they could not do it and
they referred us to a hospital
in Ghana where they
demanded N800,000.“Since I just came back from
Maiduguri, I had no money.
Then I started thinking of
how to raise money. I
thought of a rich man in my
area who had a very big
school and planned on how
to kidnap his son.
“Tunde Edun, who is also
known as Otunba, is a very
popular person in our area,
and used to visit my wife’s
shop and there was a time
he told me that he was broke
and was looking for money
to pay his children’s school
fees. When I briefed him
about my plans, he told me
that he was interested but
he wanted to be sure if the
man had money. I also
invited two of my friends,
Victor and Yellow from Abia
state, who I knew during
political rallies.
“I asked Victor to come with
two registered SIM cards
which we would use to
communicate with the
victim’s relatives. I also
contacted one of my friends,
Ifeanyi Obi, who sells spare
parts at Ladipo Market, and
that he would provide the
vehicle we would use for the
operation.
“Victor brought a gun, and
Otunba also brought a gun
he said belonged to his
father. A day before we
kidnapped the boy, we met
in my wife’s shop and we
concluded our plans. I told
them I would be the one to
monitor the boy’s movement,
while they would abduct
him. The next day, when the
boy was on his way to
school, I called and informed
them and they kidnapped
him at the entrance of our
street. They took him to
Abeokuta and they kept him
in Tunde Edun’s father’s
house.”
Ibara, a member of the gang
also spoke about the ransom
they demanded. He said: “I
got the man’s number from a
student that attends his
school and I demanded N10
million. The man told me that
he did not have such money
and he paid us N5 million
after four days and we
picked the money along
Abeokuta Road.
“We asked the man to put on
his rear lights and when we
saw the vehicle, we asked
him to drop the money by
the side of the road. We also
released the boy that night
and we shared the money.
We all got N1 million each
and I sent N700,000 to my
father and the surgery was
conducted successfully. Last
month, Ifeanyi called me and
when I met him, he brought
the police and I was
arrested.”
One of the suspects, Tunde
Edu, who is an indigene of
Abeokuta, revealed that it
was his friend that made him
join the gang, Edu said:
“I am a club bouncer and I
reside at Agege. I have a
national diploma in Estate
Management from Moshood
Abiola Polytechnic. It was
Paul that invited me for the
job. I had approached him in
the past and told him that I
wanted a job and I asked
him to assist me. Two weeks
later, he called me and said
someone was owing him
money and I should assist
him arrest the person’s child
and when the person pays
him he would give me my
percentage. He told me that
we needed a gun for the
operation and I told him that
my father had a gun.
“I went to our home town
and took my father’s gun. On
the day of the operation, I
was in the car with Ifeanyi
and the two guys Paul
invited, and we stopped the
car that was taking the boy
to school with my gun and
kidnapped him. We then
took him to my father’s
house before the ransom
was paid. I rented an
apartment with my share of
the percentage and I also
paid my children school fees.
“After that operation, I
stopped seeing Paul and
Ifeanyi. I was arrested at a
fillings station where I was
controlling crowd. I don’t
know that what I did was
kidnapping, I was only trying
to assist a friend.”
However, Ifeanyi Obi, who is
32 years old and hails from
Abia state gave a shocking
confession, when he said it
was Fashola, while as
governor in 2012 destroyed
his source of livelihood at
Ladipo spare parts market,
that forced him into crime.
Obi revealed: “I am not
married. I came to Lagos in
2008. I am not educated. I
am from a very poor family.
After serving my boss for
seven years at Ladipo, my
boss settled me with his
shop and some money. From
there, I started doing my
own business.
“On December 28, 2012 I
was at my village and I got
news that former Lagos State
Governor, Babatunde Fashola
had broken our shops. When
I returned to Lagos, I
couldn’t find any of my
goods. A few days later, one
of my customers called me to
bring a spare part for him at
Abattoir, opposite an RRS
base from where he took me
to the shop of a Mopol man’s
wife and he introduced him
to me and we became
friends. I told him that I
wanted to sell my SUV and I
needed money to start
afresh and that I had lost all
my money in my shop when
it was demolished because I
stocked my shop before
travelling for Christmas. He
told me that there was job
that would pay me good
money. He told me that the
man was very rich and
would easily pay. After the
ransom was paid, I was
given N700,000 as my
share.”

.

Stories for the gods!