•Suspect says ‘I knew my son was a kidnapper, but I thought he had stopped
A 67-year-old community leader in Ijebu Ode, Ogun State has been arrested by the police in Ogun State after operatives recovered a ransom bag from his kitchen, linking his family to a series of kidnappings across the region.
Abdullahi Muhammadu, the Seriki Fulani of Ijebu Ode, was arrested by the Anti-Kidnapping Unit of the Ogun State Police Command. H
is eldest son, Bello, was also detained, while the prime suspect, his son Bala Muhammadu, a convicted kidnapper freshly released from prison, fled with two brothers through a bush path after being tipped off about the approaching operatives.
One of the bags used in paying ransom for one of the victims was recovered in the father’s kitchen. One of the children who saw us coming already alerted Bala and his brothers, and they escaped through the bush,” a police source said.
Abdullahi denied any involvement. “I don’t know anything about the bag found in my house. I have never kidnapped anybody in my life,” he said.
A cattle rearer and farmer, who has lived in Yorubaland for over 30 years, he said he is a father of 30 children from four wives.
Yet he acknowledged knowing that Bala had previously been convicted for kidnapping and served five years in a correctional centre. On Bala’s release, Abdullahi said he funded a month of hospital treatment for his ailing son.
“He was looking very sick and pale. I took him to the hospital and encouraged him to stay away from crime.
“I thought he had turned a new leaf because he returned to farming and cattle rearing,” he said.
Police linked Bala and at least two brothers, including one identified as Ndaji, to multiple kidnappings in Ijebu Ode, Imodi, Irewon, Iwode, Okun Owa and surrounding communities, noting that incidents surged after Bala’s release from prison.
Bello, the eldest son arrested while returning from his farm, denied involvement. “I am a herder. I only know that my younger brother Bala was taken to prison some years back,” he said, adding that their father would never condone such crimes.
Ogun State Police spokesperson, DSP Oluseyi Babaseyi, confirmed the operation, crediting intelligence-led policing for the breakthrough, and assured residents that efforts to dismantle criminal networks across the state were ongoing.
Cc: Nigerian Tribune