A member of a kidnappers’ gang which abducted the daughter of the Special Adviser to the Kwara State Governor on Political Matters, Alhaji Usman Bibire, has been arrested by the Lagos State Police Command.
PUNCH Metro learnt that Bibire’s 20-year-old daughter, Sa-adat, was abducted by the gang on Thursday, November 6, in Uzoro, Delta State.
Our correspondent gathered that the kidnappers, who were students of a polytechnic in Delta State, had opened a fake Facebook account where they posed as Alhaji Aliko Dangote.
According to the police, the gang allegedly lured Sa-adat, who was a recent winner of a beauty pageant, to come over to Delta as Dangote was ready to make her a brand ambassador of Dangote Noodles.
Our correspondent learnt the victim travelled from Lagos to Warri to meet the gang, from where she was driven away to Uzoro and locked up in a hideout.
PUNCH Metro learnt that the gang, which abducted the lady for about two weeks, allegedly demanded a ransom of N20m from the special adviser’s family.
PUNCH Metro gathered that upon the information received by the police on Thursday, November 20, the Special Anti-robbery Squad team headed for Uzoro, Delta State, where they secured the release of Sa-adat.
The police also arrested Patrick Ifada, a member of the gang, while other gang members fled on suspecting the police’s presence.
Speaking with PUNCH Metro on Wednesday, 23-year-old Ifada said the gang had set up a bank account in Malaysia where they instructed Bibire to pay the ransom.
He said, “We opened a fake Facebook account bearing Alhaji Aliko Dangote. We met the lady on Facebook as a beauty pageant winner and convinced her to come to Delta State. We said she would sign an endorsement with a company under the Dangote Group.
“She fell for the bait and came. When she arrived in Warri, we sent a taxi cab to meet her and she was taken to Uzoro ─ our base.While she was with us, we made her to call her parents in Lagos and we demanded a N20m ransom.
“I was the one assigned to stay with her in the hideout. She was with us for about two weeks.
“We asked the special adviser to pay the money into a Malaysian account we had set up. It was owned by one Fred.”
Ifada, who claimed to be a National Diploma 1 student of the polytechnic, added that he was warned by the gang leader, identified simply as Destiny, not to rape or assault the lady.
“The five of us in the gang are students of the polytechnic. I accepted to join the gang because of the money they promised to pay me.
“Nobody raped her while I stayed with her. Destiny warned us that we were to make money from her family and not to assault her,” he said.
Our correspondent learnt that the police arrested Ifada and rescued the victim inside a private school’s hostel on Onitsha Street, Uzoro, Delta State, which they used as a hideout.
Other fleeing members of the gang were identified as Destiny, Omajuwa, Ugada and Chuka.
The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Cornelius Aderanti, while noting that efforts were on to arrest the fleeing members of the gang, assured Lagos residents of a crime-free yuletide.
He said, “We received the complaint in Lagos from the S.A. and I promised him that my men were going to rescue his daughter.
“Two decoy teams were deployed in Warri and after seven days, the victim was rescued in a house on the outskirt of Uzoro in the Isoko South local Government Area of Delta State.
“Efforts are on to arrest other gang members presently at large.
“Once again, I assure residents of Lagos that the police will ensure a crime-free Yuletide as we reduce crime to the barest minimum.”
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