•’How I was abducted, deprived of food for hours’
KIDNAPPERS who wanted to enjoy February ending by kidnapping a 29-year-old man, Olabiyisi Mobolaji Charles, to make money were frustrated by the operatives of Oyo State Command of Western Nigeria Security Network (WNSN) codenamed Amotekun as they rescued the victim about 15 hours after he was taken captive, with no ransom payment.
The victim, who hails from Akinmoorin but domiciled in Jobele, was abducted from his home in early hours of Friday at about 1 a.m. and taken to the bush. However, Sunday Tribune learnt, community members immediately called Amotekun office, and operatives were swiftly deployed to rescue the victim.
The second-in-command of Oyo Amotekun, Mr Kazeem Babalola Akinro, told Sunday Tribune that the security agency got a call after 1a.m. on Friday, February 28, that someone had been abducted in Jobele under Afijio Local Government.
“Immediately, we called our operatives in the four local government areas—Oyo East, Oyo West, Afijio and Atiba—to go all out to rescue him. We also left our operational headquarters in Ibadan to join them. Throughout the night, we were combing the bushes to find where they could be.
“At about 4:30 p.m., our paths crossed with those of the kidnappers in the bush. They started shooting when they saw us, and we replied and struggled to save the kidnap victim. He was even shouting to alert us that he was the victim so that he would not be hit by bullets. We could not get any of them because of the victim’s safety.”
Charles, who said he is an interior decorator, narrated his experience to Sunday Tribune: “At about 1:09a.m. on Friday, our dogs started barking. We saw some people who scaled the fence to enter our house at Jobele. They started shooting and tried to break the door in. I tried to open the front door but it couldn’t open, so I decided to open the back door. When I noticed that they were not there, I ran away. My younger brother went to hide in the ceiling. But they decided to go with my wife so I decided to give myself in so that they would spare her.
“They told my wife to return inside. They tightened my hands with a long, strong rope (showing it). People in the community immediately called Amotekun operatives and they responded promptly. Not more than two minutes after, I saw Amotekun operatives, but one of them gagged my mouth with my T-shirt which they ripped with a knife, telling me not to talk.
“As they wanted to cross the expressway with me into the bush, one of the kidnappers who held an AK-47 rifle started waving oncoming trailer drivers to a stop. They had no choice than to obey. We walked in the bush for over three hours. The six of them were all from the Fulani tribe. One of them could speak spattered English.
“They were very cautious in their movement. Unknown to me, the Amotekun operatives were also combing the surrounding bush areas and the kidnappers could sense their movement. We got to a spot and drank water from a stream. I needed to defecate and they stopped to allow me. They directed me to another side of the stream to take water to clean myself. We started walking again.
“As we went on, they didn’t allow me to call anyone. We got to another spot in the bush and slept. To make sure I would not run away, they tied my two hands together with the rope which had its end tied to a tree. One of them also wrapped the rope round his legs so that he would feel the pull if I tried to attempt an escape. This was at the dawn.
“When we woke up, we started walking again for about two hours. They told me that they were only interested in money. The one who could speak in English said: ‘Na money.’ They demanded for N100 million. We got to another spot and they sensed the throwing of stones. I later knew it was Amotekun operatives. The kidnappers quickly picked me and asked me to crawl away from the spot while I was blindfolded and gagged. We did this for a long time until we got another spot. The place was not far from an untarred road in a local setting as I could hear the sound of vehicles and motorcycles moving past. Even, young children were passing by.
“At a point, I was discussing and playing with them. I wanted them to like me. One of them even begged me to give him my iPhone 12 as he wanted to start Yahoo business. I told him I’m not a Yahoo boy. He went away with the phone eventually.
“They were suspicious that security operatives were after them. They said I should call my family. They called my father with my phone and started reducing the ransom payment to N30 million, N20 million, N15 million and later N10 million. Their thoughts were to quickly get some money and leave me. My father told them that all that could be gathered amounted to N400,000. The one that could speak a little English told my father ‘I will kill my son’. He meant he would kill me but spoke in that way.
“They became angry because of their desperation to leave the bush quickly. With my hands tied, they told me to lie face down and started using the flat side of a cutlass to beat me. I begged them that I didn’t have money. I told them to spare my life so that I would go and sell my car and give them the money. They laughed, mocking me for thinking of them as fools.
“They moved again, but as we came out at a farm’s path, we just stumbled on the Amotekun operatives. Initially, I didn’t see them. I just noticed that the person holding the rope that was used to tie my hands dropped it. I shouted that I was the victim because the kidnappers pushed me forward to aid their escape. If not, they would have been killed by Amotekun.
“They began shooting as they made moves to escape. It was then I knew that they had other guns aside from the AK-47 rifle one of them held. However, Amotekun operatives responded to the firing. I believe some of them must have escaped with gunshot injuries. I was rescued at in the evening. I didn’t know the exact time because I had no phone or wristwatch to check. I did not pay any money for ransom.”
He revealed that he was not given food to eat throughout his stay with the kidnappers. “I had nothing to eat except dates that they gave me, and I’m not used to eating them. I was so thirsty and felt I would die, before they went to a stream and got water for me. Later, they saw cashew and Agbalumo trees and plucked the fruits for all of us to eat in the evening,” Charles recounted.
Sunday Tribune learnt that one of the bullets from the kidnappers grazed an Amotekun operative but the injury is minor. A camouflage jacket and a cap left by the suspects were recovered.
The rescued victim showered praises on Amotekun operatives, saying that they did a yeoman’s job, and would have brought down the kidnappers if not for the need to save him from being hit in the crossfire. “They (Amotekun) still traced the kidnappers after they escaped to see if they would find any of them that got bullet injuries. I saw the kidnappers smoking cigarettes but illicit drugs were found in the pockets of the camouflage when it was recovered by Amotekun,” he said.
He disclosed that kidnappings had been so frequent in Jobele Town, saying that he was the ninth or 10th person to have had the experience, not to talk of Ilora and Awe where it had also happened.
The survivor spoke further that things got to a point that there was protest against incessant kidnappings on Thursday, adding: “However, the kidnappers made me an icing on their cake by abducting me hours after the protest. They even told me that they had initially come on surveillance to my house and saw me feeding my dogs, and that made them to leave. They said they had been around my house since around 10 p.m.”
“These people (kidnappers) didn’t know me before they came to me. They don’t just abduct people along the roads or bushy areas, they also target residences that are fenced and well built,” he further stated. He appealed to the government to further empower Amotekun because Oyo residents see them as their saviour when it comes to safety of lives and property.
It will be recalled that Amotekun operatives also rescued the two wives and two sons of a traditional leader, Baale Alagede, after they were kidnapped at their residence at Alagede Village near Kola Daisi University, Akinyele, lbadan, on Tuesday at about 1 a.m.
It was learnt that Amotekun operatives teamed up with local hunters and combed Ojutaye Forest along Oretu Road to rescue the victims.
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