A 60-year-old woman, Aminat Karimu Ajibola, has been arrested with her two sons, Akeem Bashiru, 32, and Ojo Solomon, 26, for alleged kidnapping and fraud.
Detectives of the Lagos State police command said they arrested the woman and her children after weeks of investigation.
The police described the family of three as a “deadly bunch of kidnappers that use the social media to lure out their victims and put them in captivity until a ransom is paid.”
Daily Trust gathered that detectives, on September 7, 2018, stormed the suspects’ den at No.15, Irepodun Street, Igando, Lagos, based on an Intelligence report.
The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Chike Oti, who confirmed the arrest, said that one Ms. Bridget Obazee, had approached the Divisional Police Officer in charge of the Igando police station, Taiwo Kasumu, at about 4am on September 7, 2018 to complain that her brother, Osahon Obazee, had been missing for many days.
Oti added that Ms Obazee said those who kidnapped her brother were threatening to kill him unless they pay the sum of N1.5 million as ransom and warned her not to involve the police else her brother would be killed.
The Lagos State police image maker revealed that the Intelligence Unit of the Command went in search of the kidnappers’ victim.
“Through discreet investigation, Aminat Kareem Ajibola, who is a chief priestess and custodian of an Ifa shrine, and her two sons, Akeem Bashiru and Ojo Solomon, were arrested.
“Rescued during the operation were two other victims found in the apartment, namely, Fadugbagbe Akindele, male, of No.7, Peace Crescent, Meiran, Lagos, and one Ekwegbalu Augustine, who was lured all the way from Anambra State with the promise of a job placement in an oil company. They had been held for weeks by the kidnappers pending payment of ransom by their families. All those rescued had been identified and reunited with their relations.
“During interrogation, the youngest member of the family of kidnappers, Solomon, confessed that he was able to lure out victims with the promise of getting them employment, and some, a gay relationship. While his mother empowers him and his brother spiritually, she uses charms to intimidate and instill fear in their victims,” he said.
