One of the suspected nine kidnappers of the rescued Oniba of Iba, Oba Goriola Oseni, Isaiah Ododem, has confessed that the kidnappers received a N15.1 million ransom in two batches before they released him.
Ododem, who spoke in Lagos on Sunday when he was paraded before news men said that they received an initial ransom of N12 million and a subsequent ransom of N3.1 million. He, however, failed to mention who gave them the amount, where and when.
Ododem said that he and others were into illegal bunkering before they kidnapped Oba Oseni.
“We had to stop the business because of the renewed onslaught of government’s security agencies against us.”
The Oniba of Iba land was abducted on July 16 from his palace, and was released on Saturday after a crack team of security operatives from Lagos State Police Command intervened. Two suspects were arrested and narrated how they collected N15.1 million ransoms from the monarch’s family.
The suspects – Toba Forejo and Isaiah Ododomu – gave accounts of how they broke into the palace of the monarch and kidnapped him on July 16 after they were paraded at the State House, Alausa on Sunday.
The suspects, who claimed to be indigenes of Ondo State, said a gang of nine armed men broke into the palace and kidnapped the monarch on that fateful day, noting that the king spent three weeks in the creeks with them.
In his account, Ododomu named others in the armed gang to include Toba, Igodo, Mighty, Folly and Sam, saying one Micah, who is a leader in the group, did not go with them because he was with his girlfriend at home.
The kidnappers had asked the Oba’s family members to pay them a N500-million ransom after almost a week of their kidnapping him.
Earlier during the news conference, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State had told newsmen that the abduction of any traditional ruler in Yoruba land was a sacrilege.
“It was a complete desecration of the cultural values of the Yoruba people and the perpetrators of such a sacrilege would not go unpunished.”
Ambode, who was represented by the state’s Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Adeniji Kazeem, said that Oba Oseni was rescued alive on Saturday.
The governor said that the arrest was a clear warning to criminal elements that the Yoruba tradition was valued and cherished.
“We will leave no stone unturned to ensure that the tradition is protected from violation by those who have desecrated our values,” he said.
He commended the police and other security agencies for their efforts in securing the release of the traditional ruler as well as arresting the kidnappers.
“I want to thank our security services for the ongoing `Operation Awatse’ designed to flush out militants and criminals who have been terrorising our riverine communities,” said Ambode.
He said that the operation was yielding desirable results and that it would continue until all criminal activities were completely stamped out.[myad]
