A DSS operative with Oyo State Command, Mr Tunde Afolabi, on Wednesday, told a Federal High Court in Ibadan how his team arrested a suspected kidnapper, Ali Mohammed, after receiving N1 million ransom from his victim.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Afolabi was testifying before Justice Uche Agomoh in a case of alleged terrorism instituted by DSS against Mohammed and others now at large.
“Sometime in February 2024, we received a distress call that a man, known as Ibrahim Ojo in Iwajowa of Oke-Ogun area of Oyo State, had been kidnaped by a gang of kidnappers.
“Then, myself and the other members of my team swung into action to unravel the circumstances surrounding the kidnapping.
“We later discovered that the kidnappers had devised another tactics of leaving the vicinity by allowing Mohammed to move to Kogi.
“It was in Kogi that he started negotiating with Ojo’s relatives, who eventually transferred the sum of N1 million to him through his Infinix android smart phone, with a Glo phone number: 09055244538.
“Mohammed, one of the kidnappers, had established a contact with Ojo’s relatives, using a phone number and a UBA account number: 2137984369, with Ali Mohammed as the account name.
“The defendant subsequently received the N1 million sent by the victim’s relatives through the account,” Afolabi said.
The prosecution witness further stated that Ali went ahead to destroy the sim card to avoid being traced or linked with the crime.
“My lord, further technical analysis of the Infinix phone led to his arrest in Kogi,” the DSS operative said.
He tendered the certified true copies of the confessional statement made by Mohammed both in English and Hausa languages as an exhibit before the court.
Afolabi further stated that the defendant made the confession in the presence of representatives of Legal Aid Council and lawyers.
In his swift reaction to the tendered exhibit, the Defense Counsel, Mr Bolade Amos, said that he had no objection to the testimony and the confessional statement.
This, he said, was because his client had confided in him that he was truly a kidnapper and that he received the said amount as ransom.
Consequently, the judge advised Amos to counsel his client on the evil in lying to the court and also to consider changing his plea due to the grave consequences that awaited him later in the trial.
Agomoh, who described kidnapping as a very serious offence in the Nigerian Criminal Justice System, adjourned the suit till Jan. 29 for continuation of trial.
NAN reports that Ali had, since August 2024, been facing a two-count charge bordering on kidnapping and ransom taking. (NAN)
