A man known only as Gabriel, who had been threatening residents of the Ogbere area in Ogun State with abduction and assassination to extort money from them, has been arrested by the Ogun State Police Command.
Our correspondent learnt on Sunday that the suspect was arrested on July 17, 2024, while attempting to withdraw money sent to him by one of the victims at a Point-of-Sale operator’s shop in the community.
Our correspondent learnt from a police officer who was privy to the incident that a resident, identified only as Helen Orube, reported to the Ogbere Police Division that she had received a call from an unknown person named Promise.
According to the officer, the caller informed Orube that someone had paid him to abduct and kill her unless she transferred a specified amount of money to a particular account number.
The cop said, “She received a call from a man who identified himself to her as Promise on July 13, 2024. The suspect told her on the phone that he had been paid to abduct and kidnap her. Orube became frightened after receiving the call.
“While pleading with the suspect on the phone, Promise told her that the only way she could escape being kidnapped and killed was if she was willing to pay more than what the person who sent him was paying him. She sent the money to the account number that he provided.”
Terrified by the phone call, Orube immediately approached the Ogbere Police Division, where officers advised her to pretend to comply with the suspect’s demands.
The officer informed our correspondent that Gabriel was apprehended while attempting to withdraw the money he had demanded from the victim.
Reacting to the arrest, the command spokesperson, Odutola Omolola, stated that detectives from the division had positioned themselves at strategic locations where the suspect was expected to collect the money.
“The victim sent the money to a PoS account. The police division had earlier sent officers to key places in the area, waiting for the suspect to arrive. He was immediately arrested by the men of the division.Hoodlum threatening residents with kidnapping, murder nabbed
“Upon interrogation, he claimed that he was sent by another suspect named Jide to withdraw the money. Jide fled immediately after he realized that Gabriel had been arrested. Our men are working to arrest him.
“After identifying the arrested suspect, other residents made similar complaints that the suspect had received a huge sum of money, saying that he claimed he wanted to protect them from kidnappers. The suspect will be taken to the state criminal investigation department for discreet and further investigation.”
PUNCH Metro reported a similar incident involving a 23-year-old man named Edward Okache, who reportedly staged his kidnapping and sought N10 million in ransom from his parents.
Also, Olumide Openaike, a microfinance bank employee, was detained for reportedly arranging his kidnapping in Abeokuta to get out from under N1.7m in debt.
