LAGOS SEPTEMBER 5TH (NEWSRANGERS)-For three days, an unidentified Lagos businesswoman allegedly lived in a bush at the mercy of kidnappers after she was abducted from her home in Ijedodo, Lagos state.
Her freedom reportedly came when she allegedly paid the sum of N21 million ransom, a bottle of Eagle Schnapps, a power bank, and one kilogramme of frozen turkey.
The victim’s ordeal has now exposed an alleged cross-state kidnapping operation, following the arrest of three suspected members of the syndicate by operatives of the Lagos State Police Command’s Anti-Kidnapping Unit.
The suspects were identified as Semi Buawe, 35; Bamure Telemowei and Oluwatomi Obosi, 37, while police are also searching for the alleged gang leader, identified simply as ID.
Police sources on Friday disclosed that the suspects were based in Agadagba, Ese-Odo local government area of Ondo state, but allegedly travelled to Lagos to abduct residents before returning to Ondo after collecting ransom.
Buawe, a saw-miller, reportedly confessed to participating in the April operation, claiming that ID persuaded him to join because of his knowledge of Ijedodo, having previously lived in Lagos.
Buawe disclosed that the gang had no specific victim in mind when they arrived in Lagos, adding that while scouting the area, ID allegedly spotted a beautiful duplex and concluded that its owner must be wealthy.
Buawe reportedly told investigators that the woman refused to eat food for two days and ate only biscuits on the third day.
When the gang’s food supplies ran out, they allegedly used her phone to transfer N150, 000 to a PoS operator around Ijedodo before collecting the money.
He said the victim’s family initially offered N16 million, but ID rejected the offer before eventually accepting N21 million.
Buawe also claimed he received N1.5 million and took one of the victim’s two phones.
Obosi reportedly said he joined the gang because he needed money to marry, claiming that ID, who was married to his girlfriend’s sister, recruited him because he had lived in Lagos and translated conversations in Yoruba during operations.
He said he received N2.5 million.
Buawe also allegedly admitted that he had been involved in kidnapping since 2010, particularly in Edo state, but claimed he had decided to quit before ID persuaded him to participate in the latest operation.
The Lagos Police spokesperson, SP Abimbola Adebisi, confirmed the arrests and said operatives were tracking other members of the syndicate.
Blue Print
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