SUSPECTED killers of a United States (US) based Nigerian hotelier, Gbenga Owolabi, have been arrested and paraded by the police in Oyo State.
The suspects, whose names were not given, were paraded by the state Police spokesperson, Adewale Osifeso, at the State Police Headquarters, Eleyele, Ibadan, on Thursday, December 22.
According to Osifeso, the suspects were arrested after kidnapping another victim, one Waheed Hameed, a cattle dealer, on September 16.
READ ALSO:
Gunmen attack police team in Kogi, kill two
FCT Police beef up security ahead of Christmas celebrations
2023: Police to go after PVC buyers, sellers
Police blame IPOB for attack on Imo INEC office
Police stolen vehicle reporting portal fails to work 24 hours after launch
He said that the suspected kidnappers, who have been causing terror in Ogbomoso, intercepted and attacked Hameed at a deserted location while armed with AK-47 rifles and other dangerous weapons before taking him to a thick forest in the state.
He said the suspects later contacted the victim’s relatives and demanded N1 million ransom before he could be released.
The Police spokesperson explained that when the Command got wind of the incident, it deployed all available resources to rescue the victim unhurt while the abductors were arrested.
“Operatives attached to the Monitoring Unit swung into action and in the process of combing the thick forest alongside local hunters and members of Vigilance group, they stumbled upon where the victim was held captive and rescued him unhurt.”
The Oyo Police spokesperson added that the victim, while narrating his ordeal to the police, explained that while the kidnappers were negotiating his ransom, they claimed responsibility for the death of Owolabi, saying they threatened to kill him like the hotelier should his ransom payment process get thwarted with the involvement of the police.
He stated that the victim also gave other useful information that later led to the arrest of three members of the kidnapping syndicate.
The hotelier, Owolabi, was abducted alongside Racheal Opadele, one of his workers who was a student of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), in the Aba area of Ogbomoso, in August this year.
The duo were thereafter killed by the kidnappers after a ransom of N5 million was paid.
In October this year, his corpse was repatriated and buried in Maryland, USA.
You can reach out to me on Twitter via: vincent_ufuoma