I became a kidnapper, hemp smoker through bad influence of friends —Suspect whose gang allegedly kidnapped couple, family of 5, others

On Monday, March 19, it will be exactly a year after a kidnap gang abducted an elderly couple, Mr Sunday Aremu Oladapo and his wife, Elizabeth Funmilayo, at Jakata area of Ibadan, Oyo State, on their way to church.

But the cheering news is that a leading member of the gang, 40-year-old Bolaji Temitope Shittu a.k.a. BJ, who also used his residence as a hideout for the gang and den where victims were kept, has been arrested by the Anti-Kidnapping Squad of the Oyo State Police Command.

It was probably the last kidnap BJ carried out with his friend and gang member, one Bibire, who is still at large and others, before he (BJ) fell into dragnet set for him by the police.

Recently, the state Commissioner of Police, Abiodun Odude briefed journalists on how BJ and other gang members kidnapped the elderly couple and kept them in his house at Ajinde Road, Liberty-Academy area, off Akala Way in Oluyole Local Government Area of the state.

Odude said that the victims were subjected to all forms of degrading and inhuman treatment for over a week, even after the collection of ransom from the family, before the police located the den and rescued them.

The police commissioner also spoke on how the gang also kidnapped one Adeboye Adebiyi and five members of his family at Odo-Ona Elewe area in September 2106, and one Mrs Ajunwa Oluwaseun, married to an Israeli, in December of the same year.

He added that the abductors made sure they collected ransom from each of the victims’ families before they were released. Odude further stated that BJ was assisting in investigation to arrest other members of the gang.

Saturday Tribune recalls that when the police stormed BJ’s residence to rescue Mr and Mrs Oladapo, they found BJ’s wife, Taiwo Ibiloye, and his two children in the house.

The kidnapped couple was found in a toilet which served as kitchen, toilet, dining room and bedroom for the days they were kept in confinement.

Wraps of Indian hemp and stubs of the drug already smoked were found on the floor of the room to which the toilet was adjoined. The kidnappers were said to have mounted surveillance on the victims from the comfort of the room.

But the woman claimed that she was not aware of the presence of the victims in the house. It was learnt that the house belonged to BJ’s mother, who is based in the United Kingdom.

According to Taiwo, while speaking with Saturday Tribune’s sister publication, the Nigerian Tribune, “I was in Ilisan Remo the day they said the couple was kidnapped. The couple said that their mouths were gagged and they were blindfolded, so I didn’t hear any sound. My son used to move around the house to play but I never observed anything. We would sit outside to observe fresh air, but never knew people were inside.”

She said she was already living in the house last September, when a family of five was kidnapped and kept in the same house, but also added that she was not aware of their presence.

When asked if there were sections of the house her husband told her not to go, Taiwo said no, adding that  the keys of the building  were handed over to her  by her mother-in-law. She stated further that she did not know how her husband laid his hand on the keys until she saw them with the police.

“I know it will be hard for people to believe me; it is only God that will exonerate me. If a man I have had two children for could build a house somewhere that he did not disclose to me, you should understand what I am saying,” the mother of two had said then.

Saturday Tribune took time out to speak with BJ on his foray into the crime of kidnapping. Below are the excerpts of his narration:

His beginning

I am 40 years old. I had a crop farm and used to receive goods from my mother who is abroad, to sell here in Nigeria. I am the third child in the family.

I started kidnapping in 2015 through a friend called Bibire. He just told me that someone was indebted to him and he wanted to kidnap the person. He asked me if I could just harbour the victim in my house for a while, and I agreed.

Bibire was on my neck for a long time that we should kidnap, and when the pressure was much, I just agreed with him, although I know kidnapping is a crime.

I agreed to join him because of the situation in the country. There were times things were rough; when I would be short of cash and all that.

List of kidnap operations

On the first kidnap operation, I didn’t follow the gang to kidnap the victim. I was at home when they brought the victim. I don’t know where they got the victim, but I know it was in Ibadan, and I kept the victim for three days.

I don’t know how much was paid as ransom. I didn’t follow them; I was only given a share of the money. The first ransom was N500,000 and I was given N150,000.

At second operation, we got N900,000, and I was paid less than N200,000. The victims spent about a week with us.

We also kidnapped somebody married to an Israeli. Bibire used to gather the information on targets. I was not part of information gathering.

That operation wasn’t a completed job because the ‘client’ was released. We call our victims ‘clients.’ The gang got some money from the victim’s account through her ATM card. It was between N400,000 and N500,000.

Bibire brought the information about the elderly couple. We went to their house, and the woman was behind the wheel. We kidnapped them on their street as they left their house.

We blocked their car with ours. I was the one driving. The operation was carried out just about three houses from theirs.

We were holding two guns, which we pointed at them before we dragged them out of their car. Bibire was with one, while another guy was with another gun. It was Bibire who brought the other guy for the operation. He came a day before the operation. I don’t know his name.

We dragged them to our car and took them to my house where we kept them in a toilet in one of the rooms in the house. We just felt keeping them in the toilet was safe for them. We gave them something to sleep on.

We collected $8,000 from the couple, and I was given $3,000. We were about to release them when the police came.

Hemp smoking

I have been smoking hemp for five years; and I can say that the criminal tendencies I exhibited were as a result of bad influence from friends. I was influenced by Bibire and others.

On drugs

It has different effect on each person but I don’t feel anything when I smoke marijuana. But I admit that my actions were as a result of bad peer group influence. I just plead that the government should have mercy on me. I promise I will never go back to the crime.

How I initially escaped police arrest

I heard knocking on the gate of our residence. I didn’t see the police but I knew they would be the one. It was about 5:00p.m. I had earlier told Bibire to release the couple because keeping them was taking so long, and we collected the $8,000 a day before. He said we should just hold on for a while.

Immediately we sensed the police were around, Bibire and I scaled the fence at the back and escaped. The other guy that Bibire brought for the operation had left by that time.

My family was living in the house. My family stays in one apartment and we kept the victims in the other apartment. My wife didn’t know about the operations.

How I relocated to Kwara State with fake identity

After we escaped, I moved to Ilorin, Kwara State. I rented an apartment there. I changed my name to Tunde Adebayo and I did an identity card to reflect my new name, so that I would be able to secure the apartment.

My wife was detained for about two months. I came down to my house in Ibadan to pick my car from the house but the informant around my area got across to the police. I left the car with my phone in it. That was how the police were able to get the agent that helped me to secure the Ilorin apartment.

“I knew the police would be trailing me with the phone I left in the car, so I didn’t stay in the house. I came to the apartment about five or six months after I rented it. I was just moving around and that was not comfortable. I was there for about a week when my wife came in and said that my son was ill.

Unfortunately for her, she was there again when the anti-kidnapping operatives came to arrest me.

Self assessment

I didn’t gain anything from my actions. I have lost a lot of things. My image has been tarnished. My car, my property were seized. I have also wasted my time.  I have not been able to speak to my mother since the incident a year ago. I didn’t know what to tell her.