Mr Kwane Mathew has revealed to
operatives of the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Special Intelligence
Response Team (IRT), why he focused on abducting rich men in his community.
Mathew, who is from Shadam Local Government
Area of Plateau State, said that after he joined a kidnapping and robbery gang,
he needed to also come up with ideas and jobs for the gang.
According to him, since the only
rich folks he knew were in his community, he decided to focus on kidnapping
them for ransom. He was the person that gave his gang information about two of
his community members, Dipdat and Dandong. Both men have filling stations. One
of them would later pay N15million as ransom.
Before his eventual arrest, Mathew
(29) was alleged to have become a terror in the community that many feared and
trembled at the mention of his name.
Police investigation alleged that
Mathew and his gang members had carried out several robberies and kidnappings.
A police source said: “Mathew is
known for kidnapping and armed robbery. He kidnapped two prominent sons of the community,
who are owners of four petrol fillings stations. The two victims are Dipdat and
Dandong. Mathew was arrested along with his informants, Jordan Laguma and
Sunana Douglas.”
Revealing the modus operandi of
Mathew, a police source said: “What the suspect usually does is to gather sufficient
information about his victims. Then he would invite members of his gang, who are
mainly Fulani herdsmen. These herdsmen are led by Jagoro Umaru. They are
usually armed with AK47 rifles. Once they abduct their victims, they take them
into the forest before contacting family members for ransom. Matthew’s
notoriety is well known to everyone within his community, but none dares to confront
him for fear of losing their lives.”
Mathew and gang’s Waterloo started
after his last operation, in which he abducted Dandong and collected N15million
before releasing him.
After Mathew collected the
mouthwatering sum and released Dandong, members of the community became
incensed and their anger overcame their fears.
The community members teamed up and
wrote a petition to the IGP, Adamu Mohammed, detailing Mathew’s atrocities. The
IGP swiftly deployed IRT operatives, headed by a Deputy Commissioner of Police
(DCP), Abba Kyari, to investigate the activities of Mathew and gang.
Sunana Douglas, a famer, who is a
close friend to Dandong, was the first suspect arrested by IRT operatives. He
told police that he was the person that gave information about Dandong’s
location and his movements to Matthew. It was based on the information that
Mathew grabbed Dandong. Douglas admitted receiving N1m from Mathew as his share
of the ransom. After the arrest of
Douglas, operatives used him as bait to catch Mathew and two other suspects,
Jordan Laguma and Namoo Damsu.
Remembering how he joined the gang, Matthew
said that he was a primary school dropout. He said that his parents became
financially down following a crisis in Jos.
Mathew said: “I couldn’t feed
myself, and I was arrested then by the police and taken to prison for stealing
a motorcycle. Last year February, my life took a turn. I met Jagoro Umaru, a
Fulani herdsman. He used to rear cows in my community. He approached and asked
me to join his gang. I accepted because I had no job since my release from
prison. I went with them for an operation. There were eight persons in his gang,
and we robbed traders in Taraba State.”
Mathew said that on the day of the
operation, he and his gang members attacked traders returning from the market, mainly
Fulani cattle dealers. The merchants were returning from market, loaded with
money.
The suspect said: “We attacked so
many people on my first mission. I was given N60, 000 as my share. I was the
person that brought the second job. I brought the gang into my community and we
kidnapped a rich businessman known as Dipdat. He has two filling stations.
I pointed out the target’s house, but I didn’t go with the gang to kidnap him. Dipdat
was taken away on a motorbike into a bush in Bauchi State. Three days later,
the gang called and gave me N1.5million. There was a man known as Jordan, who I
used to seek information from about Dipdat, before we kidnapped him. I told
Umaru that we had to give him some money. I was given N1million to give
Jordan.”
Mathew said that in November 2018, he
approached Douglas, who was close to another rich man in the community called
Dandong. Dandong also has two filling stations. “I told Douglas that I wanted
to kidnap the man. I told him that I needed information about the man’s
movement. I promised to reward him handsomely if he gives me the information. A
week after our conversation, Douglas called and informed me that the
businessman was around. He said that I should come with my men. I called Umaru
to come. He came and we kidnapped Dandong and took him to Taraba State.
We kept him captive for three day and his family paid N15m as ransom. I
was given N2.5m and Douglas got N1.2m.”
Luguma, who police alleged was
another informant of Mathew in the community, denied the allegation. He,
however, admitted receiving N1million from Mathew. Laguma, who is married
with five children, said that he deals in timber. He said that his troubles
started after he received a call from Mathew, known as a ‘hit man’ in the
community.
His words: “I was arrested because a
man known as a hit man called me to come for a meeting in Jos. After the
meeting, I saw policemen who asked about Jordan. I told them that I was
Jordan. I was arrested and taken into their van. It was in the van that I
saw Matthew and Douglas. Police asked if I knew them, I said yes. They
asked if I have had any dealing with them, I said no. I asked Matthew if my
arrest was in connection with the money he gave to me, he said no. Matthew
pleaded that I shouldn’t tell the police anything about him. When we got to the
station, police started interrogating me. I told them that the only dealing I
have had with Matthew was when he asked me about Dipdat. I told the police that
Matthew asked me to monitor Dipdat’s movements and passed the information to
him. I refused because I have heard terrible things about Matthew. After
then, I traveled. When the businessman was eventually kidnapped and released,
Matthew sent N1million to me.”
Douglas (43), on his part claimed
that Matthew tricked and collected information about Dangdong’s movement from
him. Douglas described Dangdong as his benefactor, stressing that he wouldn’t
do anything to hurt the man.
Douglas said: “When Matthew
approached and sought information about my benefactor, Dangdong, he told me
that he wanted to buy diesel from him. Dangdong has two filling stations and
Matthew has a big generator that uses diesel. When Mathew came to me, he said
he wanted someone to supply him diesel to fuel his generator. I gave him
information about Dangdong, believing he wanted to do business with him. I
didn’t know that he was planning to kidnap the man. After Dangdong was
kidnapped, Matthew brought N1million to me. I accepted because I needed money
to solve some of my issues. Sincerely, I didn’t know that Matthew was
planning to kidnap Dandong.
“Dangdong is a friend and has assisted
me in several ways. He used to give me money to buy fertilizer. I made a
mistake by not informing him that Matthew was making enquiries about him. I got
myself engrossed with the business proposal Matthew put forward. It was because
of the business proposal I gave him Dangdong’s location on the day he was
kidnapped. On the fateful day of the abduction, I was with Dangdong when Mathew
called. I told him that I was with Dangdong. I didn’t know he was coming to abduct
him. I was the first person arrested by the police after Dangdong’s abduction
and release. I led police to Matthew’s house. My village people suspected
that I had a hand in the abduction because they had seen me discussing with
Mathew on several occasions. Also, on the day Dangdong was abducted, I was with
him. Members of the community alerted the police.”
No comments:
Post a Comment