A gang of kidnappers have staged a fake arrest after dressing as policemen to abduct a Lagos-based businessman.
Mr. Basil Agha
Some kidnappers have left a family in misery after they disguised
as policemen and stormed the house of a Lagos-based businessman, Mr.
Basil Agha before abducting him.
The victim who is a who is a fuel supplier, was kidnapped in his
country house in Umuofor village in the Orlu Local Government Area of
Imo State, Punch reported.
He was said to have travelled home to renovate the house ahead of
the Yuletide when his family members in Lagos would come home for the
celebration. The 69-year-old was kidnapped as he was seeing off an
electrician when the attackers stormed the compound and abducted him.
Speaking on how it happened, his son, Ikenna Agha, said that the
kidnappers later contacted the family members and demanded N50m ransom,
adding that they eventually paid them a total sum of N2.6m when efforts
by the police to rescue him proved abortive.
Ikenna said, “He was kidnapped on Friday, October 28, inside
his compound around 1pm. The kidnappers told him that they were from the
State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department and ordered
him to follow them into a waiting vehicle.
“I told my brother who broke the news to me on the phone that
we didn’t have any issue with anybody. On Sunday, they called me and
demanded N50m ransom. My relatives reported at the Orlu Police Station
and I also submitted a petition at the Federal SARS in Adeniji Adele.
“Five policemen from the Federal SARS followed me to Orlu. But
for the six days that we spent in Owerri, the kidnappers did not call me
again. On November 9, we came back to Lagos and they called again. I
negotiated with them and we agreed on N2.5m. They asked me to drop the
money somewhere in Onitsha and promised to release him the following
day.
“After dropping the money, we waited throughout the day, but he
was not released. Two days after, they asked for another N2m. We
negotiated and they reduced it to N500,000. I said I could only afford
N100,000 and they agreed. They called me with my father’s number. On
November 14, I told my brother in Owerri to take the money to where we
dropped the N2.5m.
“Since they collected the N100,000, I have not received any
call from them. I have gone back to the Federal SARS. They said they
were communicating with the DPO, Orlu division.”
Ikenna called on the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris,
and other security agents to come to the family’s aid and rescue the
businessman.
“I am totally confused now and so is every member of the
family. I don’t know whether my father is dead or alive. We want the IG
to intervene. Anybody with useful information should help us,” he added.
A resident, who witnessed the incident, Thomas Idochi, said he was
surprised that what appeared like an arrest to him turned out to be a
kidnap.
He said, “I am an electrician. I came to help him fix the
wiring of the house on that day. When I was done, he saw me off. As we
were about to reach the gate, three men armed with guns stormed the
compound. They were in mufti. They identified themselves as policemen
from the SCIID and asked him (Basil) to follow them.
“He asked them what his offence was. But they insisted he would
know when he got to their station. They dragged him into the car.”
A police source at the Federal SARS told PUNCH Metro that some
arrests had been made by the police in Imo State with respect to the
matter.
“We don’t want the complainant (Ikenna) to spend unnecessarily.
We are making progress on the matter and some persons have been
arrested. We have been liaising with the police in Imo to see how we can
succeed,” the source added.
The Imo State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Andrew Enwerem,
said the police had yet to get any clue about the victim’s whereabouts.
He said, “We will continue to investigate to unravel those
people behind the kidnap. If arrest has been made, investigation has to
follow. No information yet as to where the man is. As soon as we get his
location, we will go there and rescue him.”
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