‘We kidnapped 85-yr-old man because his son works in oil company’

This was the confession of Toyin Asuluwon after his arrest in connection with the kidnap of 85-year-old Pa Akinyele Akinrele Philips (alias Baba Naira). Other gang members arrested along with Asuluwon were Ebi Meeting (who was said to be the gang leader), Austin Ojobor, Omosola Olorunjuwon, Iteli David, Owei Yanbor and Patrick Bello (who is also said to be a student of Igbinedion University, Okada). Asuluwon is said to be the nephew of the kidnap victim.

The octogenarian spent a whole month with the kidnappers before he was rescued by the anti-robbery squad of the Ondo State Police Command through investigations and manhunt for the suspects that took them across different towns and states.

Saturday Tribune gathered that Pa Philips was in his home at Igbobini, Ese-Odo Local Government of Ondo State, on May 4 at about 7.30p.m. when a gang of kidnappers drove into his compound with a Toyota Camry car and attacked him and others around with two guns.

The old man was abducted and taken away to a river side, from where he was reportedly taken out in a speedboat across Ohosu/Okada express road to the other side of the river. The kidnappers were said to have kept their victim in the bush for three days while they were negotiating his release with his family, demanding a ransom of N50 million.

Probably because of a hint that the police were on their trail, the gang moved Pa Philips to Sapele in Delta State and brought him down beside River Ethiope. They were said to have brought another speedboat which was used to ferry him to a distance of about 30 kilometres into a creek. They reportedly built a little hut there in which they put the octogenarian, while two young men were detailed to keep watch over him as they continued the negotiation on ransom.

The officer in charge of the Anti-Robbery Squad, Akin Adejobi, a Superintendent of Police, on receipt of information about the kidnap, reportedly set his men at work. Based on all the information the operatives were able to gather, Asuluwon (Pa Philips’s nephew), Sobojor and Olorunjuwon were arrested and interrogated. In their confessional statements, Sobojor said that it was Asuluwon , the 27-year-old nephew of their victim, who brought the job for the gang.

Saturday Tribune further gathered that Sobojor led detectives to Sapele, where the gang leader, Ebi Meeting (38), was arrested. It was Meeting who was said to have led the police to David (a.k.a. Police), who he (Meeting) claimed knew where Pa Philips was being kept.

After the arrest of Iteli, he also led the SARS operatives to Yanbor (28) who he claimed had the old man in custody. Yanbor also confessed after his arrest that he knew where Pa Philips was and he was the one who led the SARS team in a chartered speedboat from Sapele to the kidnappers’ den in the creek.

After operatives stormed the den, they successfully rescued Pa Philips on June 4, exactly a month after he was kidnapped. Further investigations were said to have led to the arrest of Bello, who is said to be one of the ex-militants whose education was being sponsored at the Igbinedion University. He was alleged to be part of the meeting held at Irele town in Ondo State, where the plan to kidnap Pa Philips was perfected.

During interrogation, Meeting and David confessed that they had been involved in several kidnappings and had been on the wanted lists of Lagos, Edo and Delta police commands in connection with kidnap cases they had carried out.

Saturday Tribune also gathered from police sources that Olorunjuwon, Meeting and David were ex-militants who had renounced their militancy.

Fortune also smiled on a woman, Nike Ajewamide, whom, in the course of investigating Pa Philips’s abduction, the SARS operatives stumbled on where she was kept in Odigbo, a town near Ore, after her abduction in Idanre. The woman, said to be the wife of a politician, was kidnapped on May 6, with her abductors demanding N100 million before she would be released.

She was, however, rescued on May 9, three days after her abduction, where she was kept in the private residence of one Ijiniga Basiru (a.k.a. Beshe). Basiru, who is said to be a brother to another suspect, Ijiniga Stephen, however, escaped. Saturday Tribune learnt that a female staff member of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), and a female school vice-principal that were kidnapped a couple of months back were also kept in the same house. Beshe had since been declared wanted by the Ondo State police command.

The policemen arrested five suspected members of the gang; namely, Dickson Ossai (31), Akintaji Gboyega (22), Ijiniga Stephen (28), Sunday Akinlalu (22) and Tolulope Adeyeye (24) before any ransom could be paid, saving the victim’s family the agony of sourcing for money to pay the kidnappers.

Akinlalu, who was said to be a personal driver to the abducted woman, allegedly brought other gang members to his boss’s house, with his face masked during the abduction so that he would not be detected.

Narrating his experience in the hands of his abductors to the police, Pa Philips said he was fed with only gaari for the whole month he spent with them. Describing his experience as scary, the old man thanked God and SARS operatives for what they did to enable him regain his freedom.

The police image maker in Ondo State, ASP Wole Ogodo, confirmed the kidnap story to Saturday Tribune, saying that it was just one of the numerous achievements of the command, which had been working towards reducing crime to the barest minimum.

He expressed the determination of the Commissioner of Police, Mr Patrick Dukumor, to tackle crime in the state and ensure safety of all residents. Ogodo revealed that the suspects had been charged to court and had been remanded in prison custody.