A housewife, Mrs Bukola Ogun, has been arrested by the Oyo State Police Command for allegedly staging her own kidnap with the intention of...
A
housewife, Mrs Bukola Ogun, has been arrested by the Oyo State Police
Command for allegedly staging her own kidnap with the intention of
extorting money from her husband, and to also make the man, who is an
American citizen, relocate her to the Unites States.
The
Oyo State Commissioner of Police, Mr Abiodun Odude, who was speaking
during the parade of 12 arrested suspects in the state at the Police
Headquarters, Eleyele, Ibadan, said the 37-year-old businesswoman, had
conspired with a two-man gang, among whom was his cousin, Kayode
Adepoju, to orchestrate her own kidnap in order to fraudulently obtain
money from her husband.
The
police boss said the incident happened at about 7:45p.m. on Tuesday,
July 4, when three armed hoodlums stormed the residence of the supposed
victim and ‘kidnapped’ her to an unknown destination.
“Barely
four hours later, the suspects contacted the victim’s husband,
demanding for N10million as ransom as a condition for his wife’s
release.
“Unknown
to the husband that the kidnap was actually arranged by his wife, he
reported the case to the police, and upon the receipt, operatives of the
Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) began a manhunt for the hoodlums.
“During
intensive investigation, two suspects were arrested, and they let the
cat out of the bag, as operatives were stunned to discover that the
victim was the architect of the fake kidnap.
“The
woman, for the three days she was away, lodged in a hotel at
Imalefalafia area, Ibadan, while efforts were on to rescue her, but
after two of the suspects were eventually arrested in their criminal
hideout at Imalefalafia area, they confessed to the crime and the
mastermind was arrested,” the police boss said.
However,
while speaking, the woman, Mrs Ogun, said she called her cousin,
Kayode, informing him that she wanted her husband to relocate her to the
United States, so wanted to stage her own kidnap so after her rescue,
her husband would be left with no option than to send her abroad.
“So
I left home on Tuesday, July 4, and returned on Thursday, July 6,
acting as if I was kidnapped. It was then that my husband started
calling about that I had been kidnapped before finally informing the
police.
“Everything
is still like a child’s play; he is an American citizen and I just
wanted him to relocate me to the US. I told the gang to demand for
N10million from my husband; I knew he could not afford that kind of
money, but just for the whole plan to look real.
“And
within the three days I was away, I lodged myself in a hotel, but I
regret everything now,” Mrs Ogun, who had been married to her husband
for six years with two children, said.
While
speaking on his role in the whole case, Mrs Ogun’s cousin, Kayode, said
the woman just called her one day, informing him that she wanted to
stage her own kidnap so that her husband would agree to relocate her to
the United States since he is a citizen.
“So
she told me to find one of my friends who has a car and we would come
to her house in the evening of the day we wanted to stage the kidnap.
“When
we even got to her house, she was the one who walked out herself and
entered the car we brought, and we took her to the hotel where she
lodged for three days.
“After
that, we called her husband, asking for N10million ransom, just to make
the whole plan look real, but we didn’t collect anything from him.
“However,
I was arrested the following day after she returned home; policemen
came to my office to arrest me, and we had no option than to tell the
police the truth,” Kayode said.
The
Oyo police boss, however, said that the suspects would be charged to
court as soon as possible so as to serve as a less to others who might
be planning such stunts.
The
police were also able to arrest a gang that specialized in stealing
industrial batteries from telecommunication firms’ generating sets.
According
to Mr Odude, five suspects, Abayomi Gbenga (24), Ayilara Ahmed (24),
Bamimore Nurudeen (32), Adedokun Opeyemi (19) and Bakare Farouk (19),
had stolen about 48 inverters from telecommunication masts at Tede,
Sepeteri, Igboho, Komi and Ogboro in Saki area of the state.
“The
bandits, who were armed with guns, cutlasses and other dangerous
weapons, attacked the companies’ security guards before carting away
various inverters and other equipments belonging to the firms.
“However,
following a distress call received about a robbery operation, SARS
operatives launched a manhunt for the hoodlums, and the efforts yielded
result when three suspects were arrested along Ago-Are/Sabe road, and
the stolen property recovered from them.
“Further
investigation carried out led to the arrest of other suspects from
their criminal hideouts,” the police boss said, while revealing that one
locally-made pistol, 48 inverters, a Peugeot 505 saloon car with
registration number ET246APP, a long cutlass and three iron cutters were
recovered from the suspects.
The
police commissioner said that 12 suspects, included nine suspected
armed robbers and three kidnappers, while four arms, 23 ammunition and
two vehicles, among others, were recovered.
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