BY TIMOTHY AGBOR, OSOGBO
Men of the Osun State Police Command have arrested three suspected kidnappers, Galadima, Muhammadu Abdullahi and Hussain Abdullah for attempting to kidnap their kinsmen.
The suspects allegedly engaged the police in a gun duel and shot one of the officers.
The Commissioner of Police in the state, Kehinde Longe confirmed the arrest of the suspects.
He said that the suspects were arrested by the command’s Anti-Kidnapping Squad in their hideout at a remote village in Oyo State.
Longe explained that the policemen voided the attempt by the kidnappers to abduct one Alhaji Idris Aliu, who is also a Fulani man.
Two of the suspects, Galadima and Abdullahi confessed to the crime while the third suspect, Hussaini who is a Seriki Fulani in Afijio Local Government area of Oyo State denied his involvement.
One of the suspects, Abdullahi said, “Honestly, it is the offence of kidnapping, this man Barrister Galadima, met Sarki, who gave him a number of one man who would be a good target to kidnap. At that time, I didn’t know the man, even now, I don’t know him, but it was Sarki that gave Barrister the number.”
Another suspect, Galadima said, “We planned a kidnapping operation and called one man, we continued calling him, demanding for a ransom but he didn’t give us. We then threatened to kidnap him if he didn’t pay us a ransom. But before we could kidnap him, the government came and apprehended us.”
The Commander of the Police Anti-Kidnapping Squad in Osun State, Superintendent of Police, Moses Lohor, said the kidnappers abducted their fellow Fulani men.
A relative of one of the captives, Yisa Aliu, said the kidnappers abducted his brother and shot him while in captivity despite the payment of ransom by the family.
Aliu said, “We have had a terrible experience in the hands of the kidnappers. They kidnapped my brother and shot him despite collecting N4 million from us. They attended to kidnap my second brother Idrisu to collect money from us again. We ran to Seriki Toyin to help us. We reported to Anti-Kidnapping Policemen and they voided the attempt to kidnap Idrisu.”
During a gun duel between the policemen and the kidnappers numbering about 30, one of the policemen was shot.
The policeman was rushed to hospital where he was treated and he was in stable condition at the time of filing this report.
One of the leaders of Fulani men in the state, Sulaimon Oluwatoyin commended the Commissioner of Police, Kehinde Longe, and his men for their prompt response and timely intervention.
Oluwatoyin said, “We are facing serious problems with kidnappers. It has become very serious in the South West. As a Seriki Fulani, I’m not happy that they are tarnishing the name Fulani. We always thank policemen for their prompt response. In this case, the kidnappers engaged the police and shot one of them, yet the policemen arrested some of them. We thank the Policemen.”
Longe assured that the suspects would face the full wrath of the law and that their fleeing colleagues would be apprehended and prosecuted.
