When kidnappings started again in December 2021, after some respite, especially on Lagos-Ibadan expressway which serves as entry into the commercial capital of the nation, many people were apprehensive.
It became a challenge for law enforcement agents, especially police operatives in Oyo and Ogun Police Commands, under which the areas where kidnappings are carried out fall.
The Oyo police command, on its part, began work in earnest, with its Anti-kidnapping Squad employing intelligence-based investigations and technicality to trail perpetrators.
The moves yielded fruits with the arrest of 12 suspects connected with the operations, as disclosed by the state Commissioner of Police, Ngozi Onadeko, last Thursday during the parade of the suspects.
The suspects included Babuga Umaru, Bashiru Abubakar (a.k.a Maku Maku), Mohammed Umaru, Adamu Abdullahi, Umaru Faruq Mohammed, Sanda Bawu, Abubakar Siddiku, Haruna Musa, Aliyu Abubakar, Tambaya Shehu, Aliyu Umaru and Ishiaka Ibrahim.
Others still at large are Bellel, Ibrahim, Buyo, HabuKosoko, Ontop and Danliti, while Shagari Muhammed was also later arrested.
The kidnappers had struck at Onigaari axis on the expressway on December 24, 2021, kidnapping a man, Folahan Opaleye, and continued their onslaught on January 7, in which they killed a commercial driver, shot a passenger and kidnapped four victims.
When asked in an interview with the Nigerian Tribune what led him to crime, Tambaya, aged 27, a Niger State indigene, simply answered: “I have been destined to be a kidnapper. It is destiny.”
On when he began to commit the crime, Tambaya said: “I have been involved in armed robbery at Odo Oba along Oyo-Ogbomoso road. I was drawn into crime by a friend called Yellow. We met at a drink joint at Bodija market, Ibadan. We were all discussing about our jobs and sharing experiences. That was how we got connected.
“Yellow and his other friends called Abdullahi, Ali, Manaja and another Abdullahi suggested operation on Lagos-Ibadan expressway. I joined them and became the sixth person. I’ve gone with them on two occasions. The first time, we carried out robbery operation and got N300,000. I was given N50,000.
“For the kidnap operation, we met at Bodija market and went on a motorcycle at about 8pm. The guns we were to use had been kept in the forest. We had two AK-47 rifles and they were owned by Yellow and Ali. We took the guns and came from the forest to start operation. We stopped a Toyota Sharon and kidnapped the lone occupant. We got N3.5million as ransom and he was released after two days. I was given N350,000 and I used it to buy TVS motorcycle for N335,000.”
How he was arrested
“I was picked from my room at Akingbola area of Bodija.
“Actually, poverty pushed me into crime. I left Kontagora for the South-West with N150,000 to trade in cows – buying and selling. While here, thieves stole all our family’s cows back in my state. I left Ibadan for home to search for the cows and used all the capital I had.”
Another suspect, MakuMaku was a typical commercial motorcycle rider. But in his case, he had special ‘customers.’ They were Fulanis who chose kidnapping as their main business.
With his help, the kidnappers would be conveyed from the city to the bush and be picked whenever they were done with the kidnap operation and ransom collection.
During the interview, MakuMaku disclosed that he also saw Babuga among the syndicate members.
MakuMaku, who hailed from Kebbi State, said: “I came to Ibadan about three months ago. Then, I did not have a bike. I was selling water melon.
“I came home one day and Ibrahim and Bellel saw and called me. They asked for my motorcycle and I told them I didn’t have any. They said I should find one to borrow so that I would use it to take them to a place after Ibadan Toll Gate.
“I went to meet one of my friends, Zuga, and he lent me his bike. I picked Ibrahim and Bellel to the aforementioned destination and wanted them to disembark when they asked me to move to Onigaari. I asked what they wanted to do and they told me they were going to block the road. I dropped them at Onigaari at about 8pm and returned to Bodija.
“A day or two after, they called me to help them buy food and bring to them. I bought bread and cooked food and gave to them close to a construction company as they came out of the bush to collect it. I asked them what they were doing in the bush and they told me they had yet to finish the job they were doing.
“After two days again, they called me to come and pick them at about 5am. That was when I saw Babuga and Buyo on a bike, also leaving. I used to see Babuga at the Bodija ghetto. It’s a place where people, drink, play snooker and visit commercial sex workers. My wife used to sell food there.
“I dropped them off at Iwo Road and was given N10,000 with a promise to buy a motorcycle for me. They said they would come to Bodija to see me. I didn’t know they were into kidnapping until I was arrested.
I went back to bring them home because of the promise to buy a bike for me.”
A member of another syndicate, Aliyu Umar (20), explained his involvement thus: “I’m from Zamfara State and a commercial motorcycle rider.
“I started working with the kidnappers about two months ago. My job was just to take the members to a point after Onigaari axis on the expressway. I would return to Ibadan and go back to pick them again few days after. I was given N10,000.
“Initially, I didn’t know what they were doing, but they were going to block the road. At the second operation, I was not around. I went to Ilorin in Kwara State and asked my friend to convey them. They gave him N20,000 and we shared it equally.”
Also, Adamu a.k.a. Borgu Joe, from Niger State disclosed that he came to Ibadan about two years ago.
“I used to go for mining, worked as farm hand and also picked fruits. It’s the devil that pushed me into crime. I was at Akinyele working when I came across Buyo. I did not know what he was doing. Buyo is also a friend to Bellel. We exchanged phone numbers. They went to Ogere in Ogun State and Buyo called me that they went for an operation. I asked him if there was any work for me to do and he said yes, asking me to join them. I thought it was the normal labour that I used to do.
“I went to join them in the bush at about 6pm and that was when they opened up to me that they were into kidnapping. I met Buyo, Bellel, Buba, the son of Seriki Fulani of Ijebu Ode and Ali. We had one AK-47 rifle and two locally-made guns. Bellel held the AK-47 rifle while Buba and Ali held the locally-made ones.
“We went out to block the road and kidnapped two people the following evening, and the family promised to pay N2 million as ransom. At the point of collecting the ransom, with the victims with us, we didn’t know that some people had laid an ambush. They shot Ali and arrested Buba. We abandoned the victims and ran away,” Adamu narrated.
After his escape, he did not stop the crime. “Two boys and I went to Ilesabaruba to steal two cows. Though the other two were arrested and the cows were returned, my mother called me to swear that I would not go into crime again. I promised her and stopped using my phone so that I would not have contact with former friends.
“I was arrested when I came to Ibadan.”
Sokoto-born Shagari, also a suspect, narrated his involvement in kidnapping: “I joined kidnap gang about three years ago. I was selling fish when one kidnap gang member came to buy from me. I didn’t know he was into kidnapping. He told me that I was doing a hard work with little profit, enjoining me to join his gang to rustle cows. They didn’t tell me about kidnapping. It was when I joined them that I knew. I worked with them twice on the Lagos-Abeokuta road and got N400,000 and N300,000 respectively before I left them. My father heard and asked me to leave the gang. I started selling fish again but was arrested by the police.
“I was charged to court and remanded in Abolongo prison. I escaped during a jailbreak, went to my parents in Kwara State and later returned to Ibadan. I followed a gang to Ilesa in Osun for kidnapping. We got N5 million as ransom and I was given N500,000. I was in Iseyin for a Mauludi programme, when I was arrested.”
and then