*Suspect: I’ve repented, but I still
kill kidnappers
*I used my guns to protect Kogi
State votes, says suspected
kidnapper, who has nine wives, 15 kids
 |
| Isiaka |
For years, 30-year-old Zakeri Yua Isiaka
has been like a feudal lord in Kogi State crime world.
He was alleged to have committed a
lot of atrocities, including kidnappings and robberies.
Isiaka, married to nine wives and father
of 15 children, was also alleged to be a political thug and one of the disbanded
Niger Delta militants. He frankly confessed to have belonged to Ateke Tom’s
camp.
He however stepped on the tail of
the scorpion when he and his gang, dared to attack two operatives of the Inspector-General
of Police, Ibrahim Idris’s Special Intelligence Response Team (IRT).
The operatives were said to have
gone to Kogi State to rescue kidnapped victims, when Isiaka and his men opened
fire on them.
Since then, IRT operatives, under
the leadership of a Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP), Mr. Abba Kyari, have
beamed their searchlight on Isiaka and his activities.
When Isiaka, a secondary school
dropout, was finally arrested, 15 assault rifles, including AK47 rifle,
snatched from IRT operatives, were recovered from him. The police also
recovered magazines and ammunition from him.
Isiaka, who claimed to be a devout
of Almighty God, said he kills kidnappers instantly.
His words: “I have repented. Now,
any of my boy, who gets involves in kidnapping, I hand over to the police. In
most cases, the police release the person after collecting money. What I do now
is that if I arrest you for kidnapping in my domain, I kill you! You can
ask the police in Kogi State about this. They’ll confirm it. After all I
did, the state governor didn’t appreciate my efforts because he believes I’m in
support of Prince Audu’s son Mohammed. But that’s not true. My loyalty is
to APC.”
A police source said: “The suspect
has over a 100 men, armed with assault rifles, scattered around Kogi
State. He and his boys have carried out several major robberies,
kidnapping and political killings within the state. He said that those he
killed were political foes, who wanted to kill him. He started off as an
armed robber after his return from the creeks of the Niger Delta.
“After his return to Kogi State, he
established a robbery ring with some of the rifles he brought from the Niger
Delta. He and members of his gang carried out several high profile robberies
within Kogi, Ondo, Benue, Kaduna states and the Federal Capital Territory
Abuja, where he has a car dealership stand.”
The IGP in June 2016 deployed a
Special Strike Force to Kogi State, to combat kidnapping and other crimes
within Kogi. The deployment became necessary as the police could no longer
watch innocent citizens suffer in the hands of criminals.
In July 2016, Isiaka and some of his
boys attacked a team of IRT operatives, who were in Kogi, to rescue a kidnapped
victim, Edward Abutu Amedu. He was held in Isiaka’s camp. Isiaka was alleged to
have ordered his men to open fire as he sighted the vehicle of the IRT
operatives approaching.
“Two IRT operatives sustained bullet
injuries after the incident. One of the police rifles got missing. The
victim was rescued, but that operation put Isiaka into the IRT’s raider. There
was a resolve to track and end his reign of terror,” said the police source.
On October 23, 2016, operatives
trailed and arrested Isiaka along Okene, Akure High way, on his way to Akure,
Ondo State.
Isiaka described himself as a freedom
fighter, who was out to rescue Kogi from the clutches of evil men. He said the
evil men had been controlling the affairs of Kogi for too long.
He said he was a repentant armed
robber, and denied ever indulging in kidnapping. He explained that he mobilized
his men to work for APC at the last elections. He said he delivered.
Recollecting how he got involved in
crime, Isiaka explained that it all started after he met Ateke Tom’s men in an Indian
hemp joint, in Port Harcourt.
He said: “I discovered that the
people coming to that joint were mainly into oil bunkering. I told them
that I wanted to join them and they started beating me. They thought I
was an informant. I was beaten for one week before a guy took an interest and
allowed me to join. They taught me how to handle firearms. We did lots of oil
bunkering. I made N3m per trip.”
He said that after he made his money
in stealing oil, he moved to Abuja and settled down. He built a house and started
selling cars.
He said: “I came back with three
guns. I kept them in the village. At that time, the sitting governor had given
guns to all the thugs in my state. My brothers had been killed. I thought it
wise to have my own guns; to protect myself. When Captain Idris Wada
and Prince Audu contested in 2011 elections, I went back home and still
protected the votes of my people. I made sure I used my guns to prevent
my peoples’ votes from being subverted. One of my friends was killed in the
process. Before the 2015 election, PDP and APC thugs had a fight. I came back
home and fought for APC. I defeated PDP. It was then that it became
obvious to my APC party men that I had become a very powerful thug.
“When the 2015 election campaign
started, Prince Audu gave me N30m to work for them in the presidential
election. We worked for them; they won. But my younger brother, Farouk,
was killed in the presence of my father. He was picked his room, where he sleeping
with his wife and killed. The killers left with his corpse.”
Isiaka said that when it was time
for the governorship election, Prince Audu called him, to come and work for
him. He said Audu mobilised him with
N20m and promised to make him the Chief Security Officer of the state and Kogi
State Youth Leader. He was also promised to be put in charge of collecting revenues
on farm products in Kogi.
He said: “After Prince Audu died and
Yayaha emerged governor, I made efforts to reach out to him. I wanted to let
him know that I was in support of his government. But the people I sent weren’t
giving the right information. They made him to think I was very close to
Prince Audu and his family, and that I was angry because Audi’s family lost to
him. It wasn’t true. The people I have
been fighting with are PDP thugs, who wanted to kill me. Since APC came into
power, I have ordered my men, who were into armed robbery to stop. I have
repented.”
He explained that in April 2015, a few
weeks before the election, he and members of his gang robbed a vehicle carrying
a huge amount of money in Abuja. He made over N50m from the operation and
narrowly escaped death. One of his members was however killed.
He revealed that one Dan brought the
information on the robbery operation to him. He further said that the money
belonged to some politicians and was meant for elections.
“We sighted the vehicle and used our car to block
it. We snatched it from the driver. After the operation, I kept three
Ghana-Must-Go bags for myself. I gave Dan and others, two Ghana-Must-Go bags to
share. While we were sharing, one of Dan’s friends wanted to shoot me. He ended
up shooting himself. Another operation I did was in Okene. I did that job with
Black and we made N10m.”
He said he lost seven of his rifles
to the Niger State Police Command after they arrested his younger brother who
used one of his guns to snatch a car.
He said: “After the Kogi east
election was canceled, and the reelection was about to start, I gave
seven of my rifles to my manager. When I was away for the election, my younger brother
took one of the guns and gave it to a Yoruba boy. The boy used it to snatch car
and was arrested. He led police to my car stand in Abuja, where police seized
all the vehicles. Police seized my seven rifles.”
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