Kidnap suspect explains why they kept demanding ransom from family of dead victim

Akinmola Oyekanmi, a kidnap suspect arrested by the Ondo State security outfit, also known as Amotekun, has explained why he and his gang members kept demanding for ransom from the family of their dead victim.

Akinmola explained that he and the gang members did not want to completely lose out hence they continued the negotiation for ransom even after their victim had been killed.

The suspect, who was paraded alongside other suspected criminals terrorizing the state, said the victim died in their custody while negotiations were on with his family members. The victim, who was travelling from Mowe area of Ogun State to Ondo State was kidnapped by the four-man gang.

Akinmola said: “it is a pity that the gun with one of my gang members accidentally discharged and killed the victim.

“We saw the victim coming and four of us decided to kidnap him.

“While we were dragging and forcing him to cooperate with us, the gun with one of us mis-fired and hit our victim which killed him immediately.

“Having realized that he was dead and since he had given us a contact number, we went ahead to demand ransom from the family.

“We didn’t want to lose out completely since he gave us the contact number of his family members to discuss the payment of the ransom with.

Read also: Kano police arrest woman for allegedly kidnapping her daughter

“We kept negotiating with the members and they were not forthcoming with our demands.

“They insisted on talking with the victim before the payment of the ransom. I think they were suspicious that he might have died in our custody. But we lied to them that there was no network where he was kept and that we travelled to where there was a network to talk with them.

“But while we were still negotiating the people around where we were in Okitipupa became suspicious of what was going on, they must have informed the Amotekun people who later swooped on us.

“My other gang members ran away and I was apprehended by the Amotekun personnel.

“I have done two successful kidnap operations and this was my third and nobody wanted to kill the victim but the gun accidentally discharged it self and led to his death.

The Ondo State Commander Amotekun Corps, Chief Adetunji Adeleye, while speaking on the arrest, said the suspect was arrested following an intelligence report after killing their victim while other members of the gang ran away from the scene.

“The kidnappers abducted the victim and was, however, shot dead while negotiations were still ongoing between the family and the members of the syndicate, but failed to reveal to the family that the victim has died”, Adeleye said.

According to him, his men around Okitipupa, who noticed their movement, swooped on them and discovered the corpse of the victim, and apprehended Oyekanmi while others took to their heels.

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