The Ogun State Police Command has smashed a six-man kidnapping gang which allegedly lured a man, Femi Olatunji, from his home in the Isheri area of Ogun State to Igbokoda, Ondo State, where they killed him after collecting a ransom.
The suspects’ names were given as;
Fadeni Henry, Lebile Olatunji, Ehuwa Oririe, Olotu Tosin, Oluwole Ohunayo, Peter Omogbemi.
The leader of the gang, 23-year-old Henry, had reportedly struck a relationship with the victim on social media, and allegedly lured him to Igbokoda, the gang’s base, on Friday, May 12, 2017.
The state Commissioner of Police, Ahmed Iliyasu, said the victim's wife had reported the kidnap of her husband to the police.
He said the command’s detectives, men of the Anti-Kidnapping Unit and operatives of the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad were directed to rescue the victim.
Cp Iliyasu said it was later discovered that Henry and other members of his gang had lured the victim, who was a surveyor, to Igbokoda.
He said operatives of FSARS, stormed the gang’s hideout in Igbokoda, adding that the hoodlums engaged the police in a gun battle.
He said six members of the gang were arrested after the gun battle.
He said, “Investigation into the case revealed that the suspects collected some amount of money from the family of the victim, but instead of releasing him, they killed him and dumped his corpse in a river behind the Holy Trinity African Primary School, Igbokoda.
“The corpse of the victim was recovered and brought to Abeokuta with the suspects.”
The CP added that the victim’s mobile phone was recovered from the hoodlums.
“Weapons recovered from the suspects are one pump-action gun, one cut-to-size locally-made double-barrelled pistol and seven live cartridges.”
The leader of the kidnap ring, Henry, said the members of the gang strangled the victim.
In his confession, the secondary school dropout said, “He was my friend on a social media platform and I invited him to Igbokoda.
“On getting to Igbokoda, I delayed seeing him till around 9pm. We picked him and took him to the primary school.
“We tied his hands to his back after we had collected the N20,000 we found in his pocket. We later got his ATM pin and withdrew another N30,000 from his account.
“We called his wife and she also sent money to an account number that we gave her. The family members kept sending money, but they did not know we had killed him.”
CP Iliyasu warned criminally-minded persons that “they will soon meet their Waterloo.”
