We Went for Two Children in the Absence of Our Target — Kidnap Gang Leader Confesses

We Went for Two Children in the Absence of Our Target — Kidnap Gang Leader Confesses

Umaru Usman, the suspected leader of a kidnapping syndicate, has confessed that his gang originally targeted the father of one of the abducted children but settled for the vulnerable children when the man was not at home. Usman and three others are in police custody following the dramatic rescue of the two seven-year-old victims less than 12 hours after they were taken from Ebinpejo Village via Lanlate in Ibarapa East Local Government Area. The suspects – Umaru Usman, 25; Mohammed Ibrahim Shina, 29; Abdullahi Ahmed, 28; and Sunday Idowu, 30 – were arrested in a joint operation involving the Oyo State Police Command, Amotekun Corps, local vigilantes, and hunters. The rescue came after a coordinated search mission that led security operatives deep into a forest where the kidnappers had taken the children.

Usman made the shocking disclosure in an interview with Saturday Tribune, detailing how the gang planned to abduct Alhaji Idris, a cattle owner and fellow tribesman living in the same village. However, when they arrived at Idris’s residence in the dead of the night and found him absent, they decided to take the children instead – Saliu, Idris’s son, and Mohammed, his younger brother’s son. The abduction occurred in the early hours of Saturday, June 27, when the armed gang invaded Ebinpejo Village, ransacked houses, assaulted residents, and abducted the two children before fleeing into a forest. According to Usman’s confession, the gang had waited in the bush near Maya before moving to the targeted house after midnight. “We went in and found children with their mother. We didn’t meet the fathers at home,” Usman told investigators. The suspects forced the door open, and Abdullahi brought out the two children while the mother raised an alarm that went unheeded. Barefooted and rudely awakened from sleep, the children were made to walk through the forest for over four hours before the gang rested at daybreak. They were not fed during their captivity, and no ransom demand had been made before security forces closed in.

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Following their arrest, the four suspects gave conflicting accounts of their involvement, each attempting to shift responsibility to the others. Usman, whom investigators identified as the coordinator of the operation, denied leading the gang and accused the other suspects of falsely implicating him. “It is true that we were arrested, but their claim that I coordinated the operation is a lie. I have never done this kind of thing before. My family has never been involved in such activities,” Usman reportedly said. He offered an unusual explanation for his involvement, claiming he acted under a spiritual influence. “I was under a spell. If I had been in my right senses, I would not have been involved.” Mohammed Ibrahim Shina, who travelled from Ilorin, Kwara State, to participate in the abduction, gave a different account. He claimed that Usman was the one who recruited him and persistently called him to join the operation. Shina said he initially resisted but eventually gave in to Usman’s persuasion. According to Shina, “He gave me an assurance that we would not be caught.” Abdullahi Ahmed, who was found with gunshot wounds during his arrest, claimed he only learned of the kidnapping plan after he had already procured the gun from Sunday Idowu. According to his confession, Usman had asked him to get a gun under the pretence of protecting cattle from thieves.

The joint security team tracked the kidnappers to their forest hideout using credible intelligence and technical surveillance. When the advancing security operatives were sighted, the hoodlums opened fire, resulting in a gun battle. The operatives responded professionally, overpowering the criminals and forcing them to flee in different directions. During the operation, Usman was arrested with gunshot wounds sustained while attempting to escape, and three mobile phones were recovered at the scene. In a follow-up operation conducted in the early hours of Saturday, Abdullahi Ahmed was also arrested with gunshot injuries believed to have been inflicted during the exchange of gunfire. Further investigations led to the arrest of Sunday Idowu, a farmer from Oja Odan in Ogun State, who allegedly provided the gun used in the operation. Idowu claimed he only knew Abdullahi and had given him the gun believing it would be used to protect cattle from thieves. “My lack of education and ignorance about the law led me into my current trouble,” he reportedly told investigators.

The two rescued children, seven-year-old Saliu and Mohammed, were immediately taken to hospital for medical attention after one of them sustained injuries during the ordeal. They have since been reunited with their families. The father of one of the victims, Mallam Idris Saliu, who was away in Bani Community at the time of the abduction, expressed shock at the incident. “I was so afraid that I could not return home that day. I came back on Sunday and was happy that the children had been rescued. I knew Umaru. We were living in the same village and I never knew he could do such a thing.”

Investigations revealed that Usman had a previous brush with the law, having allegedly killed his brother’s wife during an argument months before the kidnap operation. The incident had forced him to flee from Maya to Ilorin in Kwara State. It was during his time in Ilorin that he allegedly began planning the abduction of Alhaji Idris, his fellow tribesman. Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Olayinka Ayanlade, confirmed that the four suspects are currently assisting investigators with useful information aimed at identifying and apprehending other members of the criminal network. The Commissioner of Police, Olugbenga Abimbola, has assured residents that efforts would be sustained to rid the state of criminal elements and protect lives and property.

We Went for Two Children in the Absence of Our Target — Kidnap Gang Leader Confesses