Nine Suspected Kidnappers Arrested In Ogun

Hammed Taiwo and Kehinde Jimoh headline mine suspected kidnappers allegedly terrorizing Abeokuta/Ayetoro Road in Ogun State arrested by the Ogun State Police Command.

Other alleged members of the syndicate include Umar Sanda, Sanda Aliu, Ali Morandu, Usman Abubakar, Usman Mohammed, Umaru Ahmadu and Umaru Momodu.

The gang was busted by a combined team of the police, local hunters, So-Safe Corps, Oodua People’s Congress (OPC), Vigilante and men of Amotekun Corps on Sunday, 24th April 2022, in their hideout in Oba Village (Abule Oba), off Ayetoro Road, Abeokuta.

Events leading to the arrest were, according to the state police command, “followed a credible intelligence gathered by policemen at Sabo/Ilupeju Divisional Headquarters that Hammed Taiwo and Kehinde Jimoh, who are errand okada riders to the kidnap syndicate, were sighted somewhere at Rounder area of Abeokuta North Local Government”.

The command, in a press release signed by DSP Abimbola Oyeyemi, “Upon the information, the DPO, SP Mustapha Opawoye, quickly mobilised his men and moved to the area, where the duo of Hammed Taiwo and Kehinde Jimoh were apprehended.

“On interrogation, they confessed being part of the syndicate, specifying their roles as merely running errands for the kidnappers, as well as keeping vigil on the environment against security operatives catching them unaware”, the statement by Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) stated.

The confession of the said errand ‘machinery’ led to the discovery of the kidnappers’ hideout, where they always converged after collecting ransom from their victims’ relatives.

Oyeyemi disclosed “Having discovered the hideout, the DPO mobilised his men, So-Safe Corps, OPC men, local hunters and men of the Amotekun Corps and subsequently stormed the hideout, where all the other seven members of the syndicate were arrested”.

The PPRO further stated that preliminary investigations conducted by the police revealed that, the gang was behind the acts of terrorism on the Abeokuta/Ayetoro Road in recent times, adding that, some of their victims have been able to identify them.

The state Commissioner of Police, Lanre Bankole, expressed satisfaction in the professional acumen of his men, harping on the intelligence-based investigation carried out by the operatives, leading to the arrest, as commendable.

The police boss has, consequently, ordered the immediate transfer of the suspects to the Anti-kidnapping Section of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department for discreet investigation.