By Desire Emmanuel
Eight citizens of West African countries who belong to a syndicate that used to fake kidnapping in order to collect ransom from their family members in the countries have been arrested at their hideout by men of the Ogun State Police Command.
The names of those arrested were given as Zakaria Zawadogo, from Burkina Faso; Cheik El-Mehdi, from Mauritania; Suren Neta, a lady from Ivory Coast; Koffi Breno, from Ivory Coast; Gondo Treso, from Ivory Coast; Kunuji Ezekiel, from Republic of Benin; Kougasi John, from Ivory Coast; and Hemue Blinsi, also from Ivory Coast.
They were said to be a transnational criminal syndicate involved in carefully coordinated fake kidnapping schemes designed to extort ransom from their unsuspecting families abroad.
They were arrested by detectives attached to the Ifo Divisional Headquarters of the command during an intelligence-led operation at their hideout in Adiyan Town, Agbado area of the state following credible intelligence and sustained surveillance into a reported kidnapping incident that was later uncovered to be a staged abduction.
The arrest also followed a report received on June 6 from an informant who alerted the police that Mauritanian national, Cheik El-Mehdi, contacted his family abroad in May claiming he had been kidnapped in Nigeria and demanding ransom for his release.
Shortly after, another member of the syndicate, Zakaria Zawadogo, reinforced the demand with threats to the family members that the fake victim would be killed if the ransom was not paid.
“The technical intelligence report revealed that the suspects were operating from a hideout in Adiyan Town, Agbado Area of Ogun State. Acting on this intelligence, operatives swiftly mobilised to the location where Zakaria Zawadogo was arrested.
“He subsequently led detectives to the syndicate’s hideout, resulting in the arrest of Cheik El-Mehdi, Suren Neta and five other foreign nationals,” the command said in a statement on Monday, June 8.
During their interrogation, it was discovered that the operation was a coordinated criminal enterprise involving the deliberate staging of a kidnapping scenario to defraud their family members.
It was further discovered that Suren Neta lured Cheik El-Mehdi into Nigeria, while Zakaria Zawadogo coordinated the ransom demands and issued threats to compel payment. The purported victim was also found to have actively participated in the orchestration of the fake abduction.
The case has been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) for discreet and further investigation and they are expected to be charged to court at the conclusion of the investigation.
