Nigeria: Police takeover forests on Lagos-Ibadan-Abeokuta road to combat kidnappers

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Armed policemen and surveillance officers from Oyo Police Command have been deployed to the forest areas around Lagos-Ibadan and Ibadan-Abeokuta roads to identify and track down kidnappers and armed robbers terrorising commuters and motorists on the roads in recent times.
The Commissioner of Police (CP) in Oyo State, Mrs. Ngozi Onadeko on Friday a team of senior officers to forest areas along Lagos-Ibadan and Ibadan-Abeokuta roads for assessment of police teams deployed to the areas.
Onadeko had pledged to sustain the onslaught against kidnappers and armed robbers in the areas which have become dark spots in recent times due to the activities of the bandits.
Her visit was aimed at ensuring that officers deployed to the areas are diligent and motivating them to be committed to the assignment. She said the visit would be a continuous exercise to ensure the safety of commuters along the two routes.
Meanwhile, the state police command paraded on Thursday three suspected kidnappers, identified as Bashiru, also known as Maku-Maku; 27-year-old Babuga and 30-year-old Mohammed, who are all members of the syndicate terrorising commuters on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway.
The suspects were arrested after they struck at Onigaari axis of the expressway on January 7. During the attack, they killed a commercial driver, shot a passenger, and kidnapped four persons.
While parading them along with other suspects arrested for criminal activities, Onadeko said the command deployed operatives to comb the forest surrounding the area during which Bashiru was arrested.
She further explained that during interrogation, he mentioned Babuga, Bellel, Ibrahim, Buyo, Habu Kosoko, Danliti, and one with the appellation ‘On Top,’ currently at large, as members of the gang that carried out the kidnapping.
Bashiru also confessed that on January 6, at about 8 pm, he used his motorcycle to convey Bellel and Ibrahim into the bush at Onigaari before striking the following day.
He added that his role was to supply food and hard drugs to the gang members whenever they were in the forest.
The police commissioner explained that preliminary investigation showed that the arrested suspects had knowledge of the January 7 kidnap operations, while the forensic analysis of their phone numbers linked them with the crime.
Two of the victims, Opaleye Folahan and Sekinat Tiamiyu, were said to have identified the suspects as part of those who kidnapped them.
Folahan, who narrated his experience to reporters, said he was coming from Lagos with his pregnant wife and daughter when the kidnappers emerged at about 8pm and shot him in the neck.
He recalled that they initially abducted him, his wife, and daughter and took them into the bush, but shortly after, set the wife and daughter free, in order to facilitate quick payment of ransom. He revealed that he paid N2.75 million as ransom before he was released.
Also paraded were another six kidnap suspects who were arrested around 2 am in a brothel at Akinyele area of Ibadan on January 11.
They were arrested through intelligence-driven surveillance by operatives of the Anti-Kidnapping Squad (AKS) in the state, led by CSP Olawale Tiamiyu.
The six suspects- Adamu; Umaru; Sanda; Abubakar; Haruna and Aliyu- were among inmates who escaped from Abolongo Correctional Centre on October 23, 2021.
The third kidnap syndicate members also operating along the Ibadan-Lagos expressway who were arrested included Aliyu, Isiaka, and Tambaya.