A 48-year-old man, yesterday, at the Lagos State command of the Department of State Services, DSS, gave a starling revelation of how he masterminded the kidnap of his nine-year-old son in Badagry area of Lagos.
The suspect, Adeyinka Adebayo, who admitted to have connived with his 28-year-old girlfriend, Kehinde Alonge, said he committed the act to generate money from his church members.
He added that the supposed ransom was to meet up with his girlfriend's demand.
Parading the suspect alongside his girlfriend before journalists, the Director, Lagos State Command, DSS, Mr. Victor Achu, explained that Adebayo had on October 3 reported at the command that his son had been kidnapped.
Achu said: "The command swung into action. Preliminary investigations confirmed the kidnap of the boy by one Kehinde Alonge, who demanded a ransom of N350,000 for his release and directed that the money be paid into a UBA account.
"The account was later discovered to be owned by one Taiwo Faloye. After series of tactical planning, the owner of the account and Kehinde were arrested at Ilesha, Osun State, while trying to withdraw the money."
Drama
A mild drama, however, unfolded following an argument between Adebayo and his girlfriend over who brought up the kidnap plan.
While Adebayo claimed that Kehinde hatched the plan to get the N200,000 she needed to open a hairdressing saloon, the later interrupted, stating that "he is lying. I was in Ilesha when he called me to come to Lagos that some people owed him money.
"He said the only way to collect the money from them was for me to come and take his son away, while he pretends that he had been kidnapped.
"I came to Lagos on October 4. I intended going to the school to pick the boy, but Adebayo advised I picked him from the house.
"Since the children knew me, I told the boy to follow me to get something outside and entered the next available vehicle to Ilesha, Osun State. His father even gave me N3,000 for transport.
"When we got to Ilesha, he sent another N3,750 worth of recharge cards for his feeding. He even called his son on phone daily. He was the one that asked me to demand N350,000.
"However, at the end of the bargain, he said I should accept N200,000. Since I had no bank account, I asked one of my relatives to give me his account details. But we were arrested at the point of withdrawal."
'She needed money'
However, Adebayo, a father of two, said: "My girlfriend said she needed money to open her own hair dressing saloon. Since I was not financially buoyant, I decided to raise money by masterminding my son's kidnap.
"I am a vulcanizer and business had not been booming. Anyone I approached for money usually declined to assist me.
"To get money from my church members in particular, I had to mastermind my son's kidnap.
"He spent nine days at my girlfriend's house. At the end of the day, I was able to raise N450,000 from my church members and friends, who earlier refused to help me.
"I regret my action because my son may never forgive me if he is told. I feel ashamed also because his mother has been down with stroke, though we are no longer married.
"I beg to be forgiven. It was the handiwork of the devil."
The suspects, according to Ochu, would be charged to court.
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