A few weeks ago, a building contractor based in Ikorodu,
Lagos, Alhaji Alaka Kamaldeen, 46, had a harrowing experience. Kamaldeen was standing outside his
office on Aug. 24, 2012 when an Audi car with four passengers suddenly pulled
up close to him. The occupants were armed with guns. Without saying a
word, they pounced on him. The strangers slapped Kamaldeen in
the face and dragged him into the idling car.
“It happened so fast that witnesses
were temporarily paralysed with fear. One of the boys even wore a bullet-proof
vest in the manner of policemen. In fact, initially I thought they were
policemen.
“They warned me not to say anything
as it might be used against me in a court of law. I wasn’t even blindfolded.
Although I was surprised and worried, it wasn’t until we got to Itoki junction
that I suspected something was amiss,” Kamaldeen said.
Instead of heading to a police
station, the vehicle conveying the ‘policemen’ and their captive veered off the
road and drove into the bush. When Kamaldeen panicked and dared to ask where he
was being taken, he was soundly beaten again. This confirmed his fears that he
had just been kidnapped.
“I began to scream for help. Although
we were approaching the seaside and there was more sand than grass, my captors
tried to increase the speed of the vehicle. Unfortunately for them, the car
sank into the sand and we got stuck. I continued to scream and a crowd began to
gather. When my captors could no longer stand it, they got out of the car and
shot into the air. The crowd quickly dispersed within seconds and my captors
came out and pushed the car.
“They started the car again, drove as
close to the creeks as they could get and began calling a contact for a boat
immediately we got there,” Kamaldeen said.
While they waited for the boat,
Kamaldeen’s captors descended on him, beating him mercilessly. The registration
plates of the vehicle were removed and Kamaldeen was doused with fuel. The
kidnappers threatened to set him ablaze. Not long afterwards, a speed boat came
by and they all entered it. There were about 10, 100-litre jerry cans, possibly
containing fuel for the eight hour journey to Warri, Delta State, in the boat.
At intervals, they encountered what
looked like checkpoints manned by other kidnappers in the creeks. At each of
these checkpoints, the kidnappers would be asked to identify themselves
and Kamaldeen’s captors would raise their hands in response.
“At about 8 pm, we came across
another set of guards. These ones were dressed in police uniforms. An hour
later, we ran into yet another bunch of guards dressed in army uniforms. It was
a frightening journey. There were thick forests on either side of the river all
the way from Ikorodu to Delta State.
“By the time we got to the last
sentry post late that night, my captors raised their hands, guns and legs in response.
I was chained to the boat. I couldn’t move a muscle. The security man at
the camp waved us through by flashing his torchlight.
“I was taken into the camp, which was
a big clearing surrounded by many huts. The huts contained many kidnap victims.
I was brought before the head of the kidnappers, who was dressed in a suit and
queried me as regards my occupation. He was unimpressed when he discovered I
was neither a captain of industry nor a politician but just an ordinary
citizen. I was then taken to a section of the camp suitable for my station in
life and passed the night on a bed made of logs of wood,” Kamaldeen recalled.
The camp itself was like a scene out
of a movie. Many young men armed with sophisticated weapons guarded the camp.
Kamaldeen’s captors had earlier boasted that the camp was impenetrable as the
syndicate had on several occasions attacked military installations and looted
them.
The next day, Kamaldeen’s captors
contacted his family with his phone and demanded a ransom of N150m. By the next
day, the ransom was reduced to N70m and two days later, to N30m.
Despite all their efforts,
Kamaldeen’s family was only able to raise N5m. Frightened that he would be
killed as the kidnappers had threatened, Kamaldeen pleaded with his captors to
release him, promising to send more money if he was released.
My relatives were instructed to drop
the money, which was concealed in a carton, on a major road linking Benin City
to Delta state, beside a signboard which welcomed travelers to the state,”
Ramaldeen said.
“Immediately they received the
ransom, I was brought out of the camp at 6 am and taken to a road where we
waited till 8 am before a commercial motorcyclist arrived. The kidnappers told
the okada man to take me to Koko junction. They
paid him N3000. Already, they had told my family to wait for me and pick me up
there. So when I got there, I met my family waiting.”
Kamaldeen’s abductors held him
for 12 days before the ransom was paid.
Already, three suspects – Joel
Ebigbaa, Raymond Urueshe and Phillip Tomi – have been arrested by the Special
Anti-Robbery Squad Lagos in connection with the kidnap.
The Lagos State Commissioner of
Police, Mr. Umar Manko confirmed the arrests to CRIME DIGEST.
Describing Ebigbaa, Urueshe and
Tomi as members of a larger syndicate of kidnappers based in the creeks of
Delta State, he said, “Ebigbaa and Tomi incidentally were part of the group who
kidnapped Kamaldeen. Urueshe, on the other hand, was part of another group,
still belonging to the same syndicate, who had earlier kidnapped a legislator
with the Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon. Taofeek Aderiye, and had demanded
a ransom of N30m, which the bank refused to cash.
“After Kamaldeen’s case was
transferred from the Agbowa division to SARS, the investigative team made an
arrangement with some of these hotels to report strange visitors to the police.
Luckily, on the 13th of September, the three suspects checked into a hotel at
Lekki and the police were notified. By midnight, the police stormed the place
and took them into custody. Upon interrogation, they confessed to the crime and
Kamaldeen has been able to identify two of them as part of the group that
kidnapped him.”
Credit: Punch
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