BY MIKE OSAROGIAGBON
Benin City, Nigeria – A middle-aged man arrested for alleged kidnapping has claimed that he never knew his exploits constituted kidnapping until he was arrested and taken to police custody in Benin City.
The suspect, Joel Emazor, 31 was paraded on Tuesday, with one Philip Roberts, 30 for allegedly kidnapping one Albert Igbinomwanhia, 31 in Benin City, Edo state.
Police said the duo connived with one Ossai and Eguavoen now on the run, to kidnap the victim and held him in their hideout for five days before he was released after N5.1 million ransom was paid by his parent.
“We had a business deal with Albert but when I asked him for my money, Albert told me the people Involved in the business have not given him his money.
“So, I took him to the police station and when the issue was not going well, we left there and took Albert along to the borrow pit and when it was night, we left for our hotel room and held him for five days and collected N5.1 million ransom from his parent before we were arrested.
“I have learnt my lesson because I didn’t really know that holding him for days is an offence, it was when we got to the station that they read the law to me and I know it was an offence”, Joel narrated.
The Public Relations Officer, Edo State Police Command SP Chidi Nwabuzor while parading the suspects said they were arrested on March 30 by the command’s intelligence rapid response squad while acting on credible intelligence.
SP Nwabuzor added that on March 6, the suspect and two others, namely, Ossai and Eguavoen whose surnames are unknown, kidnapped one Albert Igbinomwanhia from Igbinedion Avenue, G.R.A, Benin City and took him to Agbor Road Bye-Pass axis near Okhuahe River in a Lexus Jeep RX 330 with registration number RBC 18 DC and held him hostage inside a borrowed pit for five days.
“Subsequently, the kidnappers demanded N14 million ransom from his family members and the victim was released to his family after collecting the sum of five million, one hundred thousand naira”, SP Nwabuzor stated.
He said further that after collecting the ransom, the suspects continued to call the victim and his parent that the N14 million must be completed otherwise they will kidnap the victim again, a threat he revealed made the parent to petition the commissioner of police.
“The suspects were arrested from their hideout and they have made statements and confessed to the crime. Efforts are ongoing to track the other fleeing members of the gang”, he noted.
