Criminals smile to the bank as kidnappings escalate in Ogun

Olufemi Adediran, Abeokuta

IGP, Alkali Baba

“I went through hell before I could secure the release of my boy. I would not even wish for my enemy to experience what I passed through when my son was kidnapped.”

These were the words of Mrs. Bisi Ajibola, mother of a 13-year-old boy, Gbolahan Ajibola, who was abducted at their residence in Obada-Oko, Ewekoro Local government area of the state on April 17.

The abductors demanded the sum of N50million as ransom or they would kill her son.

Ajibola said: “Yes, we paid ransom to the kidnappers before they could release my son to me. It took us about three days to raise the money. His abductors demanded that we pay the sum of N50 million and threatened to kill my son if we failed to pay the money. After so many negotiations, we eventually paid the sum of N2.5 million and my son was released three days later.”

Kidnapping for ransom has become a dangerous trend in Ogun State in the last three months. No fewer than 20 persons, including three medical workers, Chinese expatriates, students of the Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU) and traders had been kidnapped between February and May this year.

Many of the victims were abducted while travelling on roads in different parts of the state. Some of the hot spots for kidnappers in the state are; the Ijebu-Ode - Ibadan road, the Lagos - Ibadan expressway, the Old Ilaro road, the Ayetoro - Olorunda road and the Abeokuta - Imala - Ayetoro road, where two kidnappings took place within a month.

Abductors of these victims demanded different amount of money, ranging from N5million to N100million. For instance, the abductors of a community leader in Imope town, Ijebu-North Local Government Area, Tajudeen Omotayo, demanded a ransom of N100 million for his release.

Similarly, the abductors of two fufu (a local delicacy) traders, who were also kidnapped on the Ayetoro-Olorunda road in Imala, Abeokuta North Local Government area of the state demanded a N10 million ransom before they would release them.

The New Telegraph gathered that ransoms were paid before some of the victims were released by their abductors.

Although, the Police and the state government refused to admit payment of ransom to abductors, findings by New Telegraph revealed that families, friends and associates of the kidnapped victims paid certain amount of money as ransoms to secure the release of their loved ones.

The families of two students of the Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU) also confirmed that the sum of N2 million was paid as ransom for the release of the students, even though the State government and the Police vehemently denied that ransom was paid.

Also, an undisclosed amount of money was paid as ransom by the State chapter of the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) to secure the release of a medical doctor and a nurse that were abducted in Imeko area of the state.

The medical doctor and the nurse working with a state-owned general hospital in Imeko, Imeko-Afon Local government area of the state, were kidnapped in April 7.

The doctor was later identified as Dr. Oladunni Odetola, head of General Hospital, Imeko, Imeko-Afon Local Government Area and the nurse, Mrs Bamgbose. The two were kidnapped barely seven days after two Chinese expatriates working with a fishery and poultry company at Oba in Obafemi - Owode Local Government Area of the state were abducted by gunmen.  The abductors of the health workers demanded a N10 million ransom before they could be released.

To raise the ransom, NMA directed its members to pay a compulsory sum of N10, 000 each. Investigations by New Telegraph revealed that, those that could not immediately pay the money were asked to do so immediately their salaries were paid.

One of the doctors in the employ of the state government who spoke to New Telegraph under the condition of anonymity, said: "Yes, we were asked to contribute the sum of N10, 000 each to raise the ransom for the release of our captured colleagues. The money was raised within members of the association. We had to do something since the state government was doing little or nothing to ensure the safe release of our colleagues. We could not afford to let our members die in the hands of these criminals. We paid the ransom and eventually they were released safely to us.”

But, when New Telegraph contacted the NMA chairman in the state, Dr. Oladapo Ogunlaja, to confirm this, he declined comment. He also refused to comment on whether a ransom was paid to the abductors of their colleagues.

He however said the body had called off the strike they embarked on to protest the abduction of their members.

His words: “We called off the strike a long time ago, more than three weeks ago. Some of our demands were met immediately by the government while we are still discussing with the government on some of other demands.”

When asked to confirm if the State government did little or nothing to secure the release of their members, Ogunlaja said, "That is not absolutely correct. It was a synergy between all the parties; the government, on our own side and even the security agencies.”

Barely a month after the health workers were kidnapped, four persons - three traders and a driver, were also abducted by gunmen at Olubo Village; the same spot where the medical doctor and the nurse were abducted along the Abeokuta - Imeko road. The assailants, who were armed with AK-47 rifles and machetes, however, spared five other passengers in the bus. The spared passengers included two women, a Fulani and two Hausas.

Meanwhile, former President Olusegun Obasanjo has condemned the payment of ransom to bandits and kidnappers, especially by government.

The former President insisted that government must find a way of dealing with banditry and kidnapping instead of encouraging culprits by paying ransom to them. Obasanjo advocated for the adoption of "carrot and stick" approach to fight banditry, kidnapping and other security challenges confronting the country.

Obasanjo said: “A situation whereby anybody thinks paying ransom is the way out, that person is folly. He is a folly. This is because when you pay ransom, you encourage crime. But if you are not going to pay ransom, you must have the means to deal heavily with it. You must have the stick to deal with it. Government has always paid ransom. Not only this government, even during Jonathan (administration). They paid ransom, but they denied it.”

Speaking on the efforts of the State government in fighting kidnapping and other crimes, the State Commander of the Ogun State Security Network, otherwise known as Amotekun, Dave Akinremi, said, operatives of the corps with the help of other security agencies have begun combing the forests to flush out kidnappers from their dens.

The commander said that although, the corps was yet to commence full operation throughout the State, but the corps have identified some of the hot spots of kidnappers and deployed operatives to these areas.

Akinremi said: "We deployed personnel in some local government areas which we considered volatile as at the time we started our operation. The local government areas included, the Yewa North, Ipokia, Imeko-Afon in the Ogun West Senatorial district; Ijebu-Ode, Sagamu and Ijebu-North in the East Senatorial district. But we have commenced training for another set of seven local government areas now so that we can spread our tentacles to a larger portion of the State before the final batch will be trained. The area we are having challenges is the Ibadan - Ijebu-Ode axis which have been taken care of. For some time now, we have not heard of any case of kidnapping in that area.”

Akinremi said that their men were combing bushes, gathering intelligence, working with local hunters, OPC and government owned security agencies.

He also said: “We’re identifying areas where Intels have it that these kidnappers normally hibernate and very soon we are going to burst them. By the time we have credible intelligence, we are going to burst them. The main trust of our corps is to gather intelligence and we are partnering with traditional rulers and other stakeholders to sensitise the people on the need for them to give us credible information. The state government is working seriously to make sure that the corps commences operation in Abeokuta, the state capital so that we can push these criminal elements out of the state. We have vehicles, we have communication equipment and some other equipment purchased for us by the state government to contribute positively to the security architecture of the state.”

Again, gunmen on May 5, kidnappers shot a policeman dead, abducted another policeman and three others, including a civil servant in the state. The kidnappers abducted the civil servant who works with the Ministry of Agriculture and a couple who wanted to set up a fish farm in the state.

The victims were abducted at Ibara-Orile in Abeokuta North Local Government Area of the state after killing one of the policemen that served as guards for the farmers. This came barely 24 hours after three traders and a driver were abducted at Olubo Village, along the Abeokuta-Imala-Ayetoro road in the same local government area.