Barely three days after Daily Trust reported how kidnappers in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) are collecting ransom through banks, police officers attached to Area Command of ‘A’ Division in Suleja, have arrested one of the suspects.
This is just as the owner of the bank account used by the kidnappers, Babawi Abba, hired a lawyer to defend him in order to prove his innocence in the matter.
Daily Trust had reported how a husband to one of the kidnappers’ victims, Saheed Adewuyi, paid the sum of N500,000 into an Access Bank account with number 1403762272 with the name Badawi Abba Enterprise as account holder.
Our correspondent reports that the owner of the account, was however, not arrested by the police, and the suspected kidnapper was also not handcuffed.
Meanwhile, the Area Command invited Mr Adewuyi to make a statement on the matter, after which the Commander directed one Insp. Idris, family members of the suspected kidnappers and the lawyer to settle the matter with Adewuyi but he (Adewuyi) said it was not his matter and as such, there was nothing to settle.
The parties including the Police kept on persuading Adewuyi to allow the matter rest, saying “the suspect was just a victim of circumstances” but Adewuyi asked the police to allow the suspect to produce other suspects whom he gave money to after withdrawing it.
Also speaking, Abba, the account owner, explained that he never knew anything about the incident until his banker, Access Bank contacted him to ask for what was happening, adding that he immediately contacted his lawyer to help him out whom he later advised to report the matter to the police.
He said he could remember that on the said date (June), he truly gave his details to someone operating a Point of Sales (POS) business beside his shop where he deals in sales of cosmetics at the popular Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida market, Suleja, Niger State.
A police officer, while speaking to our correspondent on the condition of anonymity, said they (police) had in the past discovered a lot of kidnapping cases but it was covered by some top politicians in the country.
The Investigation Police Officer (IPO) , one Insp. Idris told our correspondent on phone that the case would be transferred to anti-kidnapping unit in Minna, Niger State capital.
When contacted, the spokesperson of police, FCT Command, Maryam Yusuf, noted that the case was in Niger State jurisdiction and directed our correspondent to Niger State Police Public Relations Officer, Wasiu Abiodun who promised to get back to Daily Trustwhen he concludes his findings from officers at Suleja.
(Daily Trust)
