The Ondo State Police Command has arrested and paraded a group of kidnappers who kidnapped High Chief Mukaila Bello, the traditional head of Iku quarters in Ikare-Akoko, along with four others, on the Owo-Ikare route two weeks ago.
The suspects were Mohammed Mosere, 25, Ilyasu Lawal, 27, Mohammedu Abubakar Sidi, 26, Garuba Bature, 36, and Abubakar Dangy, 20.
Three barrel guns, five live cartridges, two face masks, and two jack knives were among the items retrieved from them.
They were captured in various areas of Ondo State and Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
The gang received N4m in ransom but only declared N2m, according to Dangy, who claimed to have given them the ammunition used in the operation.
Dangy claimed that he felt shortchanged by the group and decided to expose them when they were captured.
After the ransom was paid, two of the suspects, in his account, fled to Ibadan, but they were apprehended after one of them was recognized by the victims, which led to the arrest of further suspects.
He said that after another member of the group was apprehended, he only got to know that those who collected the ransom had short-changed him.
Abdul Muritala, who took the ransom to the kidnappers, stated that the abductors had initially demanded a N500m ransom, but the victim’s families were able to raise N4m, adding that the entire community contributed the money.
The suspects confessed to committing the crime, according to Ondo Police Commissioner Oyeyemi Oyediran, who also stated that they will soon be brought before a court.
Oyediran added that one of the kidnappers responsible for the murder of a soldier and the kidnapping of a Lebanese in Owo had been nabbed and charged to court.
He claimed that Yusuf Hamza, the suspect, was captured after a forensic investigation, and that efforts were being made to arrest others.
