One Mukaila Alatunse has been nabbed by the police in Ogun State for attempting to kidnap his neighbour, identified as Precious Ogundiran. The 44-year-old bricklayer was said to have discussed his plan to abduct Ogundiran with a vigilante in the neighbourhood, telling him that they could get as much as N5m ransom from her parents. I went into kidnapping to make money like Evans.
But luck ran out of the suspect after the vigilante, who purportedly played along, later divulged the plan to Ogundiran’s father, a lecturer at the National Open University of Nigeria on Victoria Island, Lagos State. The father was said to have reported the case to the police at the Agbado division, leading to the arrest of the father of seven on Monday.
I went into kidnapping to make money like Evans
Following his arrest, the suspect, in a chat with The Punch, owned up to the botched kidnapping. According to him, he took to the crime after hearing the news of how the notorious kidnapper, Chukwudumeme Onwuamadike, aka Evans, made millions of dollars from kidnapping.
He said he got Ogundiran’s phone number and some other details from a shop owner in the area, adding that the trader was not aware of his plan.
Here’s what the suspect said, “I am also a commercial motorcycle rider and the vigilante rode on my motorcycle on June 16 in the evening. We were discussing how kidnapping had become a way of making quick money. I explained to him how Evans made a lot of money from kidnapping and suggested we should also try our luck.
“I told him that I knew a lecturer, who had one child, and that we would make millions of naira from the man if we kidnapped his daughter. He said he was also interested and we exchanged contacts. He asked me to provide him with information about the girl, especially her phone number, while he promised to look for more persons to facilitate the kidnapping. It was on Monday that he called me on the telephone that the girl had been kidnapped and that I should come to a hotel in Agbado to discuss the ransom. We were in the hotel when the police arrested us. On getting to the station, I realised that it was a set-up.
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“I have seven children with two wives. One of my wives died recently and I don’t have money to take care of the children. This is the first time I would attempt kidnapping. I am appealing for mercy,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Abimbola Oyeyemi, said, “The Commissioner of Police, Ahmed Illiyasu, has directed that the case should be transferred to the anti-kidnapping section of the command for discreet investigations. Further investigations on the case would be carried out at the command headquarters in Abeokuta.”
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