CRIME
Boy, 15, Stages Own Kidnap, Demands N.5m Ransom

A 15-year-old boy has allegedly staged his own kidnap and demanded for the sum of N500,000 as ransom.
The minor, who was paraded in Jos on Thursday, told newsmen that he initiated the plan with his friends in order to enable him buy clothes and celebrate his graduation.
“I was the one who initiated the plan and not my friends.
I wanted my father to give me money for clothes and to also celebrate my graduation,” he said.Briefing newsmen on the arrest of the minor, the Commissioner of Police, Plateau command, Isaac Akinmoyede, said that five persons were arrested in a case of criminal conspiracy and kidnapping, including the victim, who stage-managed his own kidnap.
He said that the father of the victim, Mr Jerry Vichi, had on July 19 reported at ‘A’ Division, Jos that his son, working as an apprentice at a motor vehicle electrical wiring shop, did not return after the day’s job.
The police commissioner said that the suspect’s father reported that he received a phone call from a hidden number informing him that his son had been kidnapped and taken away from Jos.
“The father said that the caller demanded for a N500,000 ransom and threatened the boy’s life,” he said.
Akinmoyede said that the command had arrested 44 suspects in connection with alleged kidnapping, armed robbery, culpable homicide and other cult-related activities as part of its efforts to protect lives and property of the people of the state.
“We have arrested 11 notorious kidnap suspects and a syndicate responsible for the recent kidnap at Plateau State Polytechnic Staff quarters, Haipang, Zawan and other places in Jos South Local Government Area.
“We have also arrested two suspects in a case of threat to life and kidnapping at Bokkos Local Government Area and another for criminal activities, armed robbery and allegedly belonging to an unlawful society, with locally-made pistol and two live ammunitions recovered.
“Three suspects for culpable homicide and cult-related offences were also arrested for shooting one Chinedu Okoye dead at Chorbe junction in Jos North Local Government Area, while other armed robbery suspects were also apprehended,” he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the suspects were paraded, along with three AK 47 rifles, three magazines with 30 rounds of live ammunitions and two unregistered motorcycles, amongst others. (NAN)
CRIME
Gunmen Kill Three As They Abduct Eight In Sokoto Village

Three persons have been killed while others sustained varying injuries as bandits invaded Soro community, Binji Local Government Area of the state on Monday.
The state police Public Relations Officer, ASP Ahmad Rufai, while confirming the attack, disclosed that some gunmen suspected to be bandits launched an attack on the Soro community but men of the command with the support of military operatives swiftly moved in and successfully repelled the attack.
However, the police spokesman said the bandits out of frustration, set some houses on fire as a result of which three of the residents lost their lives while a few others sustained various degrees of injuries. The PUNCH learnt from sources in the affected village that the marauders regrettably successfully abducted several other persons.“ Eight people, who are mostly women were abducted and carried away on motorcycle by the bandits,” a local hunter disclosed .Some community members who spoke about the incident informed The PUNCH that some vigilante groups who carried out a reprisal attack on a Fulani community led to a situation that forced the police commissioner, Ali Kaigama, to intervene and initiate a dialogue among the residents of the affected areas.CRIME
Freed Journalist Narrates Ordeal in Kidnapper’s Den

By David Torough, Abuja
A journalist with The Pavilion Newspaper, Moses Ogaga , who was recently abducted described his experience in the hands of his abductors as horrible.
Ogaga was kidnapped along with 13 others on September 17, in Benue.
He, said, although an undisclosed amount of money was paid by family members before they were released, no man should take the glory except God as he said, only God’s grace and mercy kept them alive.
Narrating his ordeal to DAILY ASSET, Ogaga stated that their vehicle ran into the kidnappers numbering about 6, carrying sophisticated weapons, who shot sporadically in the air with their faces masked.
He said that the criminals broke some portions of the vehicle’s windscreens, held passengers on-board captive and guarded them into the forest, where they were severely tortured.
“The abductors who were suspected to be nomadic Fulanis communicated among themselves in Fulani language but speak the common broken-English to their captives; and have cattle mooing around in the nearby bushes and the cattle were always moved to a closer range to wherever we were moved to.”
“When we were asked to declare our tribal identity, we were so discretional; it was later gathered from our captors that if any was found to be a Tiv, Agatu or Igede person from Obi LG specifically, it would have been deadly.”
He stated that while in the forest, their abductors ensured that any communication to their family members or friends was not in any other dialect but the common broken-English and was restricted and targeted at payment of ransom only.
“ We were stripped of everything in our pockets and given no food or water for the first two nights and days and we were severally moved from one spot to another through the nights and days; ordering us to lie face down, drenched in the mud, beaten by pests and the heavy rains in spite the corporal punishment and we became so weak and tired and felt hell while on earth,’ he lamented.
He disclosed that ransom for the victims was not the same but dependent on the amount accepted by the kidnappers, using based on their judgment to rate victims differently and the power of bargain from the respective rescuers.
Ogaga further hinted that his case was bad because he was found with an NUJ identity card and was believed to be government functionary and instrumental to castigating their operations, adding that two of his SIM cards and a 3-sim Tecno touch-light phone were not returned to him by the kidnappers.
He faulted the security architecture in the country and lamented that the security officers on highway check-points have turned their priority on financial gains from commercial vehicle drivers instead of protection of lives and property.
“And except proactive and tactical security measures are deployed to nip this ugly trend to the bud, we are vulnerable and left at the mercy of the perpetrators of this heinous act,” he reinstated.
He maintained that while in captivity, there was no security intervention of any sort, “no police, no soldier or the villagers attempted in any way to rescue us.”
CRIME
New Kwara Police Commissioner Vows to Deal With Cultism, Kidnapping

From Alfred Babs Ilorin
The newly posted Commissioner of Police to Kwara State, Victor Olaiya has vowed to deal with monstrous issues of cultism and kidnapping in the state.
Olaiya, who assumed office as the Police Commissioner in Ilorin, the state capital on Monday, September 25, 2023 told the officers in the Command to brace up and work to reduce the incident of criminality in the state.
While addressing the command’s strategic managers, Olaiya said that he strongly has determination to deal ruthlessly with all manner of criminals in the state, regardless of their nomenclature.
In a statement signed by SP Okasanmi Ajayi, Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) on Monday, Olaiya declared his total abhorrence to laziness, negligence, and armchair style of leadership.
.The Commissioner, an adherent of the rule of law said that he would use the community policing strategy in line with global best practices to flush out the criminals from the state.
Olaiya, who hails from Lagos State, had in his 31 years in the Police service served in various states of the Federation including Imo, Plateau, Oyo, Bauchi, Abuja and Benue states.
” Victor Olaiya, a strong believer in serving God through humanity and an unrepentant defender of the fundamental rights of the citizens,” the statement said.