There is a fresh dimension to the Obadeyi-Ijaiye end of the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway kidnappers’ den as three new suspects have been arrested. Two of the suspects, a woman and a man, allegedly disguised as mentally-challenged persons, but the latter was said to have later confessed to being a member of a kidnap gang.
We learnt that three phones, an Automated Teller Machine card and two loaves of bread, were recovered in a bag found with the woman, while the man had some clothes in his bag.
The den, yet to be completed building, was uncovered around 8am on Tuesday 10th August, 2017 after a highway sweeper with the Lagos State Waste Management Agency alerted residents to the voice of a distressed woman in a drainage channel in the area. A crowd gathered around the two ends of the drains during which five persons came out through the channel and two of them were set ablaze by a mob, while three others were rescued by the police. Clothes, slippers and bags believed to be effects of abductees, were found in the building.
Sources revealed that: “The woman should be in her 40s. She wore tattered clothes and had a bag. We saw her going towards the drainage channel. When we checked the bag, we found two loaves of bread, some pieces of fish, three phones and an ATM card. People did not even listen to her; they started beating her. Policemen intervened and she was rescued.”
“In my observation, the woman was taking the food to other members of the gang. What is a ‘mad’ woman doing with three phones? As we continued to watch, the man suddenly appeared around the drainage channel. Some people confronted him, but he was talking incoherently. We saw some clothes and used exercise books in his load. We decided to let him go.”
“Lo and behold, we removed the wigs he wore and saw his natural hair. As we wanted to beat him, he confessed that he was a member of the gang. He made the confession in the presence of policemen, who took him away. There are still many suspects lurking around the drain and we won’t leave until they are all apprehended. After all, one of the suspects arrested yesterday (Tuesday) said they were more than 20.”