According to the suspects, they had forgotten the crime and had even finished spending the money. While they were spending the ransom and going about with their lives, they didn’t know that IRT men were still doggedly trailing them. The three-year investigation finally paid off this year.
The leader of the gang, is Paul Ibara, 36, a dismissed police corporal. He was alleged to have been discharged over his involvement in unethical practices. Rather than learn from his dismissal, Ibara later planned the kidnap of his neighbour’s son at Ishaga, Agege, Lagos State. He carried out the kidnap with four men he handpicked for the operation.
The men are Ifeanyi Obi, 32, Otunba Tunde Edu, Victor and Yellow. While others have been arrested, Victor and Yellow are still at large. The police said that the IRT operatives trailed the suspects to their hideouts in the Ishaga, Agege and Egbeda areas of Lagos State and grabbed them.
The police recovered a locally-made gun from the suspects. Ibara, also called ‘Mopol’ by members of his gang, said: “I went into crime because my father had prostate cancer. It was very bad and doctors needed to carry out surgery. The hospital at Uyo, demanded N450,000, but they couldn’t do it.
The hospital referred him to a hospital in Ghana, where they demanded N800,000. I had no money. I started thinking of how to raise the money. I thought of a rich man in my area. He has a very big school. I started planning how to kidnap his four-year-old son.” In January 2013, Alonge Oluwa Tunmishe, the four-year-old victim, was abducted on his way to school at Ishaga.
The five-man-gang of kidnappers, took Tunmishe to Abeokuta, Ogun State and held him captive. He was later released after his distraught parents paid N5m. Singing like a bird in police custody, Ibara said he decided to kidnap Tunmishe because his parents owned a popular school within Ishaga.
The community was thrown into confusion following the kidnap of the little boy. People expressed dismay, including Ibara. Trying to exonerate themselves from the dastardly act, Obi and Edu claimed that Ibara lured them into the crime. Ibara said he went into the crime because he needed to save his father’s life.
He said the man was di-agnosed with prostate cancer and needed quick surgery. Ibara, who is married and has children, recounted: “I live with my wife and children at Ishaga. Tunde Edu, also known as Otunba, is a very popular person in our area.
He used to visit my wife’s shop and there was a time he told me that he was broke and needed money to pay his children’s school fees. When I briefed him about my plan, he told me that he was interested. I also invited two of my friends, Victor and Yellow from Abia State.
I got to know them 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 another friend of mine, Ifeanyi Obi, who sells spare parts at Ladipo Market.
He would provide the vehicle for the operation. Victor brought a gun, while Edu also brought a gun he said belonged to his father.” Ibara confessed that a day before they abducted Tunmishe, they met at his wife’s shop and concluded the plan.
Ibara’s brief was to monitor Tunmishe’s movement, until he would be abducted. The next day, while Tunmishe was on his way to school, Ibara sent out the agreed signal to others. The boy was kidnapped at the entrance of Ibara’s Street.
He was whisked off to Abeokuta and kept at Edu’s father’s house. When Ibara was sure the boy was secured, he called his father with the new SIMcard. The gang demanded N10m ransom. Ibara explained: “The man said he didn’t have such an amount of money. He paid N5m after four days.
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 released the boy that night and shared the money.
We all got N1m each. I sent N700,000 to my father and the surgery was done successfully. Last month, Ifeanyi called me; I didn’t know he was with policemen. When I went to meet him, police arrested me.” Edu, a father of two, accused Ibara of dragging him into stormy waters.
Edu, a National Diploma Holder in Estate Management, Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, said Ibara tricked him into committing the crime. He explained that he told Ibara sometime ago that he was searching for a job. He said two weeks after his discussion with Ibara, the former policeman called him. Edu said: “He said someone owed him money. He said I should assist him get the man’s child and that when the man pays, he would give me a percentage.
He told me that we needed a gun for the operation. I told him my father has a gun. I went to our village and took my father’s gun. On the day of the operation, I was inside the car with Ifeanyi and the two guys Ibara invited. We stopped the car taking the boy to school with my gun and kidnapped him. We took him to my father’s house.
After the ransom was paid, I rented an apartment and I paid my children’s school fees. After that operation, I didn’t see Ibara and Ifeanyi again. I was arrested some days ago at a filling station. I didn’t know what I did back then was kidnapping. I thought I was only trying to assist a friend.”
The third suspect, Obi, blamed the former Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, for his woes. He said Fashola pushed him into crime. Obi said that after his shop at Ladipo Spare Parts Market was demolished by the Fashola-led administration in 2012, he became frustrated.
He said that his frustration led him to Ibara who talked him into kidnapping. He said that after serving his master for seven years, the man ‘settled’ him with a shop and some money. He started making little money and soon bought a fairly used Montero SUV, 1986 model.
He paid N110, 000 for it. On December, 28 2012, he was in his village, when he got the news that Task Force officials demolished his shop. He rushed back to Lagos to find everything had been levelled to the ground. He said it was more saddening because he had just bought goods and stocked the shop before travelling.
His world, according to him, crumbled. He said: “A few days later, one of my customers called me to bring a spare part to Abattoir, Agege. He later took me to Ibara’s wife’s shop. He introduced Ibara to me and we became friends. I told Ibara that I wanted to sell my SUV. I told him that I needed money for a fresh start.
He told me there was a job that would fetch good money. He told me that the victim’s father was very rich. He said if we could kidnap the man’s son, the man would pay us well to get his boy back. After the ransom was paid, I was given N700,000.”https://newtelegraphonline.com/three-years-policeman-planned-kidnap-neighbours-son-arrested/
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