Travelers on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway can now heave a sigh of relief as the Oyo State Police Command has nabbed 33 suspected kidnappers making life hell for people who ply the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. Among the suspects were Aliu Umaru, Isiaka Ibrahim and Tambaya Usman.
This was revealed to journalists in Ibadan yesterday by the Oyo Commissioner of Police, Ngozi Onadeko.
In the words of Onadeko: “Owing to the rising cases of kidnapping along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway and the ugly incident of a case of kidnapping/murder that happened at the Onigari section of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway on January 7, 2022, the Oyo State Police Command immediately swung into action through the swift deployment of intelligence and tactical assets.
“This led to the arrest of one Bashiru Abubakar, alias Maku-Maku, a member of the kidnapping gang terrorising the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway on January 14, 2022, around 3.30 pm.
“During interrogation, the arrested suspects mentioned Babuga Umaru, one Bellel, one Ibrahim, one Buyo; Habu Kosoko, one alias Ontop; and one Danliti, now at large, as the ones who carried out the kidnapping operation that caused the death of one Oluwatosin Anwajoye, 45, at the Onigari area of the Lagos-Ibadan expressway on January 7, 2022.”
“He confessed that he used his motorcycle to convey Bellel and Ibrahim on January 6, 2022, around 8 pm, and they arrived in the bush at the Onigari area of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway before they struck on January 7, 2022.
“He also confessed that he was the person who supplied the syndicate with food and hard drugs, while they were in the forest.
“Preliminary investigation of all the suspects arrested so far in the case revealed that they all know the kidnapping operation that took place on January 7, 2022, and the forensic analysis of their phone numbers linked them up with the crime and there is a nexus between them and the suspects at large.”
Another group terrorising road users between Ibadan and Lagos, were, as revealed by the CP, nabbed. They were: Tambaya Usman Shehu, 27; Aliyu Umaru, 20; and Isiaka Ibrahim, 28.
As the CP put it: “This is another kidnap syndicate operating along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. The proactive measures adopted by the command to flush out and abate kidnapping in the state and painstaking effort led to the arrest of one Aliyu Umaru and one Isiaka Ibrahim.
“The interrogation of the duo led to the arrest of one Tambaya Usman Shehu at his hideout in the Akimbola area of Bodija, Ibadan on January 27, 2022, around 2.30 am, who also belongs to another syndicate of the kidnapping gang terrorising the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.”