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 our source
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 our source 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."
PUNCH Metro
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