Juliana Francis
Operatives of the Oyo State Police Command have busted a kidnapping gang, which specialised in abducting women with children in the state.
The Oyo State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), a Superintendent of Police, Adewale Osifeso, explained that on the 21st July 2022 at about 8:30 AM, Mrs Okafor Patience was conveying her children to school in a Toyota Rav-4 Jeep and on getting to Orita Challenge area, Ibadan, she was intercepted by some members of a dreaded kidnapping syndicate who were heavily armed with sophisticated firearms and some other dangerous weapons.
Osifeso said: “The kidnappers then proceeded in bundling the said Patience, into one ML-350N Mercedes Benz Jeep which they drove off the scene, whisking her away to an unknown destination from where they subsequently contacted her relatives. Immediately after the case was reported at the nearest Police Station, it was transferred under the instructions of the Commissioner of Police, Oyo State Police Command, Mr. Adebowale Williams, to the Command’s Monitoring Unit for immediate action. The same syndicate, on 28th August 2022, intercepted Atitebi Ganiyat who was conveying her eight years old son to school in a Toyota Highlander Jeep along Felele link road, Lagos/Ibadan expressway. Fortunately, the eight years old was abandoned in the Highlander Jeep at the SAGAMU area of Ogun State. Sequel to these developments, painstaking investigations continued by the Command Monitoring Unit and these led to the arrest of the duo of Abolaji Abdulazeez Alese aka BJ and Adewale Abolarinwa aka Oro at their respective hideouts in connection with the crime.”
The image maker explained that two Pump Action Riffles, three live cartridges, an ML-350 Mercedes Benz Jeep, a Toyota Corolla Vehicle which the suspects used for the criminal activities and a cash sum of N2.5millio, which was part of the ransom they collected from their second were recovered from the suspects.
Osifeso said six additional vehicles; one Honda Element Jeep, one Lexus 350 Car, Nissan Cabster, one Honda Accord Car, one Toyota Matrix Car and a Nissan Micra Car which they later confessed to having purchased from the proceeds of the criminal venture were also recovered from the suspects.
“Upon questioning, the suspects confessed to the crime and other high profile kidnapping incidents previously executed in Oyo State,” said Osifeso.
