We took oaths before joining kidnapping gang ─ Graduate

Two graduates of polytechnics, who were arrested by the Lagos State Police Command for alleged kidnapping, have said they took oaths of allegiance before they could join their gang.

They added that the oath was administered by a herbalist from Ijebu Ode, Ogun State.

Our correspondent learnt that the suspects– Ifeanyi Chukwuleta, Kolawole Alani and Rasheed Adetunji– were members of the gang that allegedly kidnapped a businesswoman, Kudirat Adeboye, in the Ajah area of Lagos in April.

The police said the gang also confessed to several kidnapping operations in the Lekki, and Ajah areas of Lagos and the Ijebu area of Ogun State.

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PUNCH Metro had reported on April 23 that operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad shot dead the gang’s leader, Niyi Omosola, in the Epe area, while he was picking the N3m ransom brought by the victim’s brother.

Our correspondent learnt that the operatives eventually arrested the three suspects who allegedly belonged to the gang.

It was gathered that one double-barrelled pistol, two expended and six live cartridges were recovered from the gang.

Speaking with PUNCH Metro, 26-year-old Alani from Efon Alaaye, Ekiti State, who claimed to be a graduate of a polytechnic in Ogun State, said he was asked to hold a charm and swear to an oath of allegiance to the gang.

He said, “I studied Business Administration in the polytechnic. I was in my final year when I met Niyi (Omosola). He came to me and said he had a job for me. When I visited him in Ikorodu, I met a herbalist from Ijebu Ode.

“So, he made me and another person he invited to swear to oaths of allegiance. The herbalist was called Baba. The door was locked and the Baba brought out many charms, and we were initiated. I was asked to hold one of the charms and repeat some words after the herbalist.

“I did not go with the gang during the operation to kidnap the woman. However, I have participated in two operations.

“In the first operation, we abducted a man in the Ajah area and I was given N100,000. The second was in Ijebu Igbo in Ogun State and I got N115,000. My role is to stay in the bush and look after the abducted people.”

Chukwuleta, 25, said Omosola told the gang members that the people he kidnapped owed him money and he had to make their families to pay him.

He said, “I finished from a private polytechnic in Lagos. I read Mass Communication. I met Niyi (Omosola) at a viewing centre. I told him I had some financial difficulty and he said he would help me.

“He said he had an electricity company and some people owed him money. He claimed he was kidnapping them to collect his money.

“My role is to watch over the victims in the bush. He first took me to a herbalist for an oath. I have gone with the gang on two operations. In the first operation, they gave me N115,000 and I used it to start a business. I got N80,000 from the second.

“When they kidnapped the woman, they left me in the bush. When they brought her, I was one of the three persons watching her. We gave her apples and bananas, but she refused to eat.”

The victim, Adeboye, said she spent five days with her captors, during which she refused to eat anything offered to her.

She said, “At about 6.45pm, a black golf car parked near me. Some men came out from the car, with one of them carrying a gun. They bundled me into the car without uttering a word.

“They cut a small piece of cloth and covered my eyes and mouth. When they drove to a bush, they collected my phones and bag, and demanded N250m. I told them I could not get such a huge amount, and we negotiated till at about 2.30pm. They finally agreed to N3m.

“They asked me if I needed water or food. I said no. I told them I was fasting. During the five days I spent with them, they were changing locations inside the bush.”

The state Commissioner of Police, Kayode Aderanti, said residents of Lagos should always avail the police of information to apprehend criminally-minded people in the state.

He said, “The case was initially reported at the Akodo division, from where I directed the Operation Commander, SARS, Abba Kyari, to take over the matter. There is no doubt that with the smashing of this gang, the incidence of kidnapping in that area will subside.”