A
26 year old father of one, Gabriel Ogunsawe, who has successfully
specialized in kidnapping little children from church, is currently
cooling off in one of the dreaded cells at the State Criminal
Intelligence and Investigations Department, SCIID, Panti, Yaba, Lagos.
Before his arrest, he had participated in three different kidnappings of children.
He stated that his first operation was successful but luck ran out on him on his second attempt.
He
was arrested, arraigned in court and remanded in Kirikiri prisons for
about a year. But no sooner than he got his freedom, he took to the same
crime again, he was never twice lucky.
Speaking to Crime Guard, Ogunsawe said:
“I
am from Ijebu-Ode in Ogun State. I am a National Diploma, Accounting
student of Lagos State Polytechnic. I was arrested because I was
involved in the kidnap of a young child of about four years from Amazing
Grace Church in Palm groove area. I was introduced into kidnapping
business by a friend called Olayinka.
I
have known him for over six years. It was Olayinka who came up with
the kidnapping idea. My role was to collect the ransom from the
parents of the victim. This is not the first time we have engaged in
kidnapping of little children. In fact, I have engaged in three
kidnappings. The first one was successful while the last two were not.
I
was arrested after the second kidnapping while attempting to cash the
ransom at the bank but my friend Olayinka, escaped. I was in Kirikiri
for almost a year before I was released. When I returned from prison, I
was jobless when Olayinka came and lured me into it again.
Their mode of operation
“Normally,
Olayinka goes into any church of his choice on Sunday morning, sits
like a member inside the church and monitors the activities and movement
of worshippers in the church. When he is certain that he can lure a
child out of the church premises unnoticed, he quickly lures the child
with biscuit or toys. After successfully abducting the victims, he
takes them to another big church located very far from the church where
the children were kidnapped.
We
never killed or sold any child. We only keep the child for a day and
ensure we get whatsoever ransom we need to get from the victim’s
parents. We ensure that we get the ransom first thing on Monday
morning before the child will be seen. He abandons a large envelope
addressed to the pastor in the church with a phone number. Once they
contact us through the number, we send bank details to the parents of
the victim.
“The first
kidnap operation was in a Redeemed Christian Church in Shomolu area and
it was successful. We were paid N300,000 but Olayinka gave me N70,000
only, as he said we incurred some expenses, that was why he took the
larger sum. Unfortunately, the second operation was unsuccessful as I
was arrested, arraigned in court and remanded in prison from June 2013
to January 10 2014.
Honestly,
I didn’t need anyone to tell me to stay away from crime after my
release from the prison but I didn’t have a choice. When I was
released, I started squatting with my cousin, Akorede, in Akilo Street
close to Lady-Lak area. That was after I was ejected from the rented
apartment where I lived because I was unable to pay the rent. My wife
and son had to go live with her parents in Ota.
This
last operation, Olayinka initially, asked the victim’s parents to pay
N700,000 but, they said they will pay N250,000. They later sent N3,000
airtime to Olayinka. He transferred N1,500 to my line the next day
after I confronted him for collecting the ransom behind me. Because I
was broke, I transferred N750 to my cousin Akorede, who I was squatting
with.
We used an old
registered line of mine for the transaction. It was that line that he
used to transfer the air time to my main line. It was through the
transferred airtime that Akorede was arrested, unknown to me. It was
through his sister, Jumoke, that I was eventually arrested while I
was sharing handbill. Akorede and his sister Jumoke, are innocent and
know nothing about the kidnap.
I
have a son who is about three years seven months old and I won’t want
him to be kidnapped because I know the trauma we subject the families to
when we kidnap their children. There was a time when I had to speak
with the mother of the child we kidnapped. I could feel her pain and
broken heart from her voice.
My
wife doesn’t know that I am into kidnapping business. My mum is late
but my father is alive. He doesn’t care. I am married and I am a
tiler. To my wife, I am very sorry to put you through all this shame and
disappointment. My family members are all disappointed. No one has
come to see me since I was arrested. Right now, I feel so bad about my
actions, but I was so desperate to get out my unpleasant situation,” he
stated.