‘WE CHAINED BUSINESSMAN INSIDE TOILET FOR FOUR DAYS’ – SUSPECTS
Three suspects, who
allegedly kidnapped a Lagos businessman, Alhaji Hammed Fashola, have narrated
how they chained the victim and kept him inside a toilet for four days. On
Monday, November 24, the Lagos State Police Command arrested two brothers ─
Kelvin and Victor Igah ─ and Mr. Chukwuma Kingsley for allegedly kidnapping
Fashola near his residence in Egbeda, Lagos on November 13.
It was reported that the
three suspects were arrested by operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad
from their hideout on Odeniyi Ishola Street, Isheri-Oshun, Lagos four days
later, while Fashola was rescued by the police.
The Suspects |
While being paraded at the
command headquarters on Wednesday, 39-year-old Kelvin said two gang members,
who brought Fashola to the hideout, claimed he owed them a sum of money, which
they wanted him to pay by force.
Kelvin, who is married with
two children, added that the gang chained 55-year-old Fashola and locked him up
inside a toilet for the four days he spent with them.
He said, “I was the one
assigned to stay with Alhaji (Fashola). On that Thursday, Ike and Odogwu drove
Alhaji to my house in Isheri-Oshun. They used my house as the hideout. They
said the man owed them some money, and they wanted to make him pay it.
“He spent four days with us.
I was the one who chained him inside the toilet. I was also bringing him food
for the days he spent.”
Kelvin, who said he was a
labourer, added that they had yet to collect the demanded ransom of N20m before
the police arrested them.
In his own confession,
Kingsley, 43, from Isele-Ukwu, Delta State, said his role was to monitor
Fashola’s movement on the day he was abducted by the gang.
He said, “I was assigned to
monitor Alhaji’s movement on that Thursday and inform the gang. Once they
captured him, I did not follow them to the hideout. I was arrested by the
police when the gang named me.
“I was working with a private
security company in Apapa, Lagos. I first met Ike and Odogwu in 2006 at a place
in the Anthony area. I was promised a sum of N150,000 if I participated.”
Also, Kelvin’s wife, Ogechi, said that she truly heard the
screams of the victim in their toilet but was warned by her husband not to go
near the room.
She said, “I did not know it
was a businessman they kept inside the toilet. I was instructed not to go
there. We have three toilets in the house and they locked him up in one of
them.
“Whenever the gang members
were around, my husband would ask me to go inside with the children. I did not
know they kidnapped the man. I knew my husband as a casual worker. My husband
said it was one of his bosses who kept the man there. The only mistake I made was
that I did not report to the police.”
The Lagos State Commissioner
of Police, Cornelius Aderanti, while confirming the incident, said efforts were
on to arrest other fleeing gang members.
“The suspects have confessed
to a series of kidnappings within the Lagos metropolis. Efforts are on to
arrest other fleeing members,” he said.
culled from PUNCH
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