Gunmen abduct truck driver, ask family to conduct burial after reducing ransom from N3m to N300,000

The family of a truck driver, Mr Adedeji Ireyomi, has petitioned the Deputy Inspector-General of Police, Force Criminal Investigation Department, Abuja, over his abduction since October 2021.

Ireyomi was abducted while returning to Sagamu, Ogun State, from Zamfara State en route the Auchi-Benin way.

His vehicle was abandoned by the roadside, while he has not been seen since then.

The family’s petition, titled, ‘A case of kidnap of Mr Adedeji Ireyomi of Transport Service Ltd, along the Auchi-Benin way by unknown kidnappers,’ and dated November 30, 2021, was signed by a lawyer, Olushola Abisoye, on behalf of the family.

It said Ireyomi was employed in 2014 by TSL and was one of the company’s professional drivers.

The petition disclosed that after the driver was whisked away, his kidnappers reached out to the family and demanded a ransom of N3m.

The company was alleged to have asked his wife to negotiate with the criminals.

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The family stated, “The kidnappers established contact with the family on the same day whereby they equally reached out to our client’s co-workers, precisely Mr Saheed, who in turn informed one Mr Korede with a promise by both drivers to find a solution to this matter, though they failed.

“At this juncture, our client’s wife, Mrs Temitope Ireyomi, on October 24 met the chief security officer of the company, who informed her that the kidnappers were demanding N3m and asked our client’s wife to negotiate with the kidnappers for N300,000 and our client’s wife did as she was instructed, but the kidnappers refused to accept the offer.”

Ireyomi’s wife was said to have informed the company about the gang’s response, after which she visited the company’s office to seek assistance.

“On the same day, while our client’s family members were on the way to their head office, our client’s wife received a text message on her phone, which read, ‘This is kidnappers; I called you, you refuse to pick my call. Don’t worry, I have killed your husband, go and do the burial.’

“Following this development, our client’s wife forwarded the above text message to the CSO as well as the head of human resources and they both promised to resolve this issue. But eventually, the CSO denied being aware of the matter and warned our client’s wife to stop telling people that he was aware of the matter,” the petition added.

After the threat from the suspected kidnappers, the family claimed that the company retrieved its truck from the police and abandoned Mrs Ireyomi to her plight.

The TSL Chief Security Officer, Adegboye Akinlawon, declined to comment on the case.

He said, “I cannot discuss it on the phone because it is a security matter.

“You have to come to my office; I don’t know you and cannot talk about it on the phone.”

Punch