Suspects A university graduate
and two other suspects were on
Wednesday paraded by the
Lagos State Police Command,
following their arrest, by a tip
off from a seven-year-old
victim. The graduate of
Economics of Olabisi Onabanjo
University, Gbenga Sholaja;
Olalekan Benjamin and Samson
Shomorin, who specialise in
kidnapping little boys, were
arrested by men of the Igando
Police Division and the Special
Anti-Robbery Squad, Ikeja,
Lagos. The victim (name
withheld) was said to have been
held hostage at Benjamin’s
father’s house at Ikotun, Lagos.
The child, who was later
released after ransom was paid
by his parents, was said to have
memorised the house address
where he was kept. It was the
child who led police officers to
the same house where Benjamin
was arrested. Sholaja, who wept
profusely during his interview,
told PUNCH Metro that he was
pushed by unemployment into
kidnapping. He said, “I have a
Second Class Upper (Division) in
Accounting and have completed
my National Youth Service Corps
programme. “I went into
kidnapping because since I
finished my NYSC in 2011, I have
been unable to get a job.” An ex-
convict, who was remanded in
prison for kidnapping three
years ago, Benjamin, said he met
Sholaja at OOU while he was
trying to gain admission into the
school. He said, “I was a casual
worker at a factory in 2007
before I was sacked; I earned
N300 per day. After staying idle
for some months, I met a
friend, Muyiwa, we were
carriers of frozen fish at Apapa.
He introduced me to Taofeeq.
“One day, Taofeeq brought a
small boy to my house and
asked me to take care of him. He
claimed that the boy was his
younger brother; he was about
seven years old. The boy stayed
in my house with my family and
was well taken care of for four
days. Taofeeq even sent money
for his upkeep. “When Taofeeq
went to collect N150, 000
ransom, he was arrested by
SARS and he led them to my
house. We were charged and
sent to prison in November
2009. In September 2010, we
were released because the
complainant refused to show up
in court.” Benajmin and his
wife, upon his release, then
moved to his father’s house at
Ikotun area of the state. In 2010,
he was said to have met Sholaja
in OOU, where he went to write
the post-Unified Tertiary
Matriculation Examination. The
30-year-old claimed that Sholaja
invited him to take part in
another kidnapping; he said
Sholaja had read about
Benjamin’s arrest in the
newspapers. Benjamin said, “We
would kidnap one boy and we
would keep the boy in his
(Sholaja’) mother’s house at
Owode Ijako. “After a week, the
boy’s parents paid the money.
We were given N100,000 and my
share was just N40,000.”
Describing their modus
operandi, Benajmin said they
usually kidnapped children
while on their way to or from
school. All suspects were said to
have collected a total of
N260,000 on two separate
occasions, to secure the release
of two boys. Benjamin told
PUNCH Metro that he befriended
potential victims by buying
them biscuits on their way to
school, thereby earning their
trust. He said, “It was the last
kidnap that got us into trouble. I
drove away not knowing that
the boy memorised my father’s
house address, where he was
kept. “After he was released, he
led policemen to the house and
I was arrested along with my
dad but my dad was later
released on bail.” Shomorin, on
his part, confessed to
kidnapping three boys. He urged
the government to pardon them,
promising not to go back to
crime. Lagos Deputy Police
Public Relations Officer,
Damasus Ozoani, said the
suspects were arrested on
September 29, 2013. Ozoani said,
“They confessed to have
kidnapped three children -one
from Omole Phase 1; one Kola at
Alagbado area and the last one
in Owode Ijako, Ogun State, and
various amounts of money were
collected as ransom.”
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