The Oyo state Police Command has arrested a 30-year-old man, one Hassan Maikudi alongside five Fulani men suspected to be members of a notorious kidnapping and armed robbery gang who for years had allegedly terrorized Okeho and Iganna communities in the state.
Maikudi, The Sun reports, led the gang to kidnap his own father and collected a ransom of N1.5 million before releasing him.
The Inspector General of Police, Mr. Solomon Arase, while parading the suspects, said when police invaded their hide-out, some of the suspects fled into the bush, while the police recovered the sum of N200,000 and several charms allegedly used in evading arrest from the apprehended suspects. They were identified as Damanya Gambo, 30, Usman Saidu, 30, Abubakar Abubakar, 28, Abdullahi Mohammed, 35 and Usman Idris, 33.
On their arrest, one of the suspects, 35-year-old Mohammad, a Fulani from Kwara State who claimed to be a graduate of Mathematics, said he is married to two wives and has three children. He said it was his quest to be a rich man that landed him into crime.
According to him, “Before I was arrested, I was a teacher and I quit my job because I wanted to join the Nigerian Army. I applied but I wasn’t admitted. I obtained an Ordinary National Diploma from Kwara State Polytechnic in Mathematics and Statistics in 2005 and I went further to obtain a B.Sc in Mathematics from Kwara State University and I graduated in 2009, before proceeding for National Youth Service.
“I started working in 2011. I got a job at a private secondary school in Okeho where I taught Physics and Mathematics and I earned N15000 monthly. I was very popular among most residents of the area especially people of my tribe. I grew up in that area with my parents and siblings. I was also staying there with my wives and children. Though most of my friends who knew I was well educated, knew I wasn’t making enough money from my job.
“Few years ago, two of them, Damanya and Abubakar, approached me with an idea, that since I was highly respected and well known in the community, I could always make good money for myself, by giving them information about rich people residing in the community. I asked what they needed to do with such information, they said in most cases they will either rob or kidnap such persons.
“I told them that I can’t do such because my eyes are very bad, and I could barely see at night. Damanya told me that all they needed was for me to always look out for potential targets and when identified, in the case of kidnapping, I will be on ground to gather intelligence from relatives of the victims.
“In other cases, he said I will have to trail and give them information on persons they want to rob. So I eventually joined them, he added.
Recounting some of their exploits, Mohammad said, “We did a couple of jobs. I gave them information when they wanted to rob a cattle rearer after he has sold cattle. I informed them when the man came home and I followed him secretly until he mounted a motorcycle. I gave them that information, and by evening, news went round that the man had been robbed and the money he made from the sale of his cattle was carted away.
“In that operation, I got N40,000 as my share of the loot,” the father of three said.
According to him, there were several other times they blocked the highway leading to the border and robbed traders going for their businesses across the border.
“We dispossess traders of their monies. When they returned, they will bring my own share; this is because they don’t want me to tell anyone who carried out those operations.
“There were several operations we did together and I usually got my share but last month they went and kidnapped one Alhaji Maikudi, who is a rich cattle rearer. It was his son, Hassan, who brought the job and I don’t know what his reason was.
“Hassan is also my friend,” Mohammad continued, “but he works with his father as a herdsman and they have several cows. He gave the information to Danmayan and they kidnapped his father and took him into the bush and kept him there for one week before a N1.5million was paid as ransom before he was released.
“During the operation, I was in the community monitoring what was happening. I was attending meetings and I took part in planning how we will go and look for Alhaji Maikudi. My father also took part in the search. He was also in the bush looking for Alhaji.
“Some of my gang members were also with them and they were always relaying information to those keeping Alhaji. On my part, I was always giving them information about any plan that was to be carried out in the community. At the end, Hassan ensured that the sum of N1.5million was paid as ransom after some of his father’s cattles were sold. He got N700,000 as his own share, while, I, Abubakar, Damanya and Saidu, got N200, 000 each.
“I had barely spent my own money when I was arrested by the police. I was picked up in a bar, where I had gone to have some drinks. The policemen were also in the bar drinking and I didn’t know that they were policemen.
“I liked the way they were seated and offered to buy them some drinks, but before I knew what was happening, I was arrested and whisked away. I thought the policemen were from Ibadan on routine raid and I threatened to call my lawyer, it was when I got here that I realised that I was in a deep mess.
“I told the police the role I played and took them to my house and handed over my N200, 000 share of the ransom,” he added.
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