By Desire Emmanuel
Four young men who carried out a deadly kidnapping in a community in Ondo State where they killed one of their victims have been arrested at a hotel where they lodged in the state.
Also, the sum of N1.4 million said to be part of the money received as ransom was recovered from them inside the hotel room.
The names of those arrested were given as Abdullahi Ismaila (aged 20 years), Babanyara Japi (aged 25 years), Babuga Abubakar (aged 25 years) and Adama Usman (aged 15 years).
It was gathered that the young men were behind the January 26 kidnapping and violent attack that occurred along Liberty Avenue, Ilu-Abo, near Akure, the state capital, which led to the death of one John Ofuduwa and the abduction a lady, Oladeinde Tomilola.
The lady was later released after payment of ransom.
On Friday, March 6, the Ondo State Police Command got intelligence reports that suspected kidnappers had lodged in a hotel located behind Ado Garage, Akure, which made the operatives of the Tactical Team in collaboration with the Ondo State Security Network (Amotekun Corps) swing into action to apprehend the suspects.
During the raid on their room, the four men were found in possession of the money strongly suspected to be proceeds of ransom obtained from kidnapping activities and the money has been taken into police custody as exhibits.
According to the command, during interrogation, they confessed to their involvement in the crime and further disclosed that they were members of a kidnapping gang operating around the Eleyowo, Ilu-Abo and Ogbese areas of the state.
“Furthermore, the victim, Oladeinde Tomilola, was able to identify them as those behind her abduction,” the command said in a statement on Friday.
The matter has been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) for further investigation while efforts are also ongoing to track down other members of the criminal network and establish whether the suspects are connected to other previously reported kidnapping incidents in the state.
