I bought my AK-47 in Zamfara for N.5m —Suspect confesses

A kidnap suspect, Umaru Usman, who was among the six paraded by Ogun State Police Command on Wednesday, has disclosed that he bought his  AK-47 rifle for N500,000 in Zamfara for kidnapping.

Usman stated this in an interview with Saturday Tribune, on his activities with his gang members.

During the press briefing at the Police headquarters at Eleweran, Abeokuta, the state Commissioner of Police, Edward Awolowo Ajogun, disclosed that Usman’s gang members, including Babuga Abubakar and Mohammed Bello, confessed to series of kidnap cases at Ayetoro, Olorunda and  Imeko areas in the state.

The police commissioner stated further that they were the ones who abducted two students of Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU) in Ayetoro on March 14; a female doctor and a nurse at Olubi Village, on Abeokuta-Imeko Road on April 7 and one Mrs Yemi Ojedapo at Olodo Village.

Mrs Ojedapo was, however, killed because she recognised the suspects.

He spoke further that Abubakar, who was residing at Olodo Village, was an informant within the gang, as the duty assigned to him was to supply information on victims that would be targeted, to ease their operations.

Ajogun added that the third suspect, Bello, whose gang member disclosed his possession of an AK-47 rifle, was the  one who invited his gang members to kidnap Mrs Ojedapo and prompted them to kill her because she could recognise him.

Saturday Tribune gathered that her phone used in calling for ransom was recovered from the gang.

Other suspects were Nura Bello, 21 years old; and Abubakar Bello Amodu, 26, who allegedly belonged to another kidnap syndicate responsible for the kidnap of the Olori Ilu of Imope Ijebu, Chief Tajudeen Omotayo on March 23.

The police boss said that the sixth suspect, Haruna Sanni, was arrested after the police got information that he approached a man to help him purchase an AK-47 rifle, to use it in forming his own gang.

Ajogun said that the information made undercover police operatives to act as vendors, and negotiated N1 million as the price for gun, which the suspect agreed to pay.

After paying N200,000 to show commitment to the purchase, with the promise to pay the balance later, same day, he was promptly arrested.

He was said to have confessed that he decided to break away from his gang because he was not happy with what he regarded as peanuts, which he was being paid after each kidnap operation.

Below are excerpts of the interview with some of the kidnap suspects:

 

Umaru Usman

“I’m 28 years old, a Fulani from Kotangora, Niger State.

“I came to the South West 10 years ago to rear my father’s cattle. I joined kidnapping two years after it was started by the gang I belong to.

“I joined them just for fun, though I know it was not for fun for the victims, and it is not a good act.

“We normally keep them in the bush. Some of us beat our victims while others don’t. Also, some of kill our victims when they can’t pay ransom or unable to walk a distance in the bush. But I’ve never killed anyone.

“The family of one 13-year-old Fulani boy kidnapped at Igboora did not pay ransom because my father was arrested, and we were forced to release him in December 2020.

“It was Babuga Abubakar who gave us information on the boy, and was also the one who gave another information about my father, leading to his arrest.”

 

Mode of operation

“We usually stop our victims on the road by suddenly emerging from the bush and attacking them, whether walking or driving. I bought my AK-47 rifle for N500,000 from one Babuga Almajiri. He’s in Zamfara State now.

Babuga Abubakar also gave us information about two other victims. We link states to kidnap.”

 

Babuga Abubakar

“I live at Olodo and engaged in buying and selling cows.

“I knew what I was doing was not good but greed took over me, despite being accommodated and well treated where I was living. I have given information to my gang on three victims.”

 

Haruna Sanni

I left Minna, Niger State, six years ago, and have been staying at Randa, near Ayetoro Town, buying and selling scraps.

“I was invited into kidnapping by two members of a security agency (identity withheld) and still, they would be cursing me,  saying that I was not active enough. And I was not happy with the castigation.

“I joined kidnap gang in 2020 because my hands were not strong and active enough to do hard jobs.

“I have joined the gang three times to block roads. Whenever we were on the road, the security agency members would bear arms. All I needed to do was to block the road and collect our victims’ belongings.

“I was severely injured the day I went to an army barracks with the connivance of the security agents to steal from a transformer.

“I didn’t remember that power could be restored anytime, so, when it happened suddenly, I was almost electrocuted. I sustained severe burns all over my head, arms and body. I was thought to be dead but came out of consciousness after six days. After getting a little better, I resumed work with other kidnappers.

“I decided to form my own gang because the leaders were fond of giving me an insignificant share of the ransom.”

The police commissioner said that efforts were in top gear to apprehend other members of all the kidnap gangs.

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