Seven-year-old leads police to smash Lagos

kidnap syndicate
According to a report by Punch, a 7year old boy
led police to the smash of a Lagos kidnap
syndicate that specializes in the kidnap of little
children, weeks after he was kidnapped and
released by them...
Punch reports
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.”