Couple chained kidnapped oil magnate in toilet

A couple was among four people arrested for kidnapping an oil magnate in the Egbeda area of Lagos State.

When policemen from the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, Ikeja, Lagos State Command, stormed the kidnappers’ hideout, they found the victim, Alhaji Hammed Fashola, 55, tied up in the toilet.

The kidnappers abducted Fashola at his home in Egbeda on November 13, around7pm. Since then, the kidnappers had been in touch with his family, demanding N50 million ransom.

The arrested suspects are Kelvin Igah, 39; Ogechi Igah, 32; Victor Igah 35; and Chukwuma Kingsley, 43.

The victim was successfully rescued and the suspects confessed to their crime. According to them, they had taken part in series of kidnapping within Lagos.

The state Commissioner of Police, Kayode Aderanti, explained that his men had responded swiftly after receiving information about Fashola’s kidnap.

Aderanti said: “SARS decoy teams tracked the location of the suspects to No. 18, Adeniyi Street, off Bola Road, Isheri Oshun area of the state.

“Immediately the hideout was discovered, the area was cordoned off and search began, led by the Officer-in-Charge of SARS, Mr. Abba Kyari.

“They found where the victim was hidden.

“He was rescued on November 17, 2014.”

Aderanti said that among the suspects, two were siblings, adding that they were nabbed at their hideout, including the wife of one of the siblings, who is a cook.

One of the suspects, Kingsley, said he was contracted by one Ik, now at large, who instructed him to hang around Isheri Oshun Roundabout to monitor the vehicle of Fashola and give him feedback.

Kingsley said: “Before I was asked to go to the junction, I was given the car colour and plate number.

“I was also promised N150,000 if I was able to carry out the duty successfully.

“I got to the junction very early that fateful day so as not to miss the vehicle.

“I didn’t want to miss the promised money.

“I was arrested at Kelvin’s house when Ik asked me to accompany him there.

“When we got there, we didn’t know that policemen had laid ambushed for us.

“Ik bolted when he sighted the police, while we were arrested.”

Stating his own side of the story, Victor Igah denied being a kidnapper.

He said he was relaxing in his home when policemen came to arrest him, along with his elder brother.

According Kelvin Igah, elder brother to Victor, his stupidity got him into the current mess.

He narrated: “I used to live in a single room.

“I needed a two bedroom apartment.

“A friend of mine called Odogwu introduced me to IK.

“IK told me that he had a two bedroom apartment he could give to me and my family.”

Kelvin said that he had never lived in a two bedroom flat before.

He was quite happy.

But within few days, he knew he was in trouble when he saw IK, dragging Fashola into his apartment.

He said: “IK and his friend brought Fashola to our house. He told us that Fashola owed him some money.

“When they brought him, he was chained and they dumped him in a room and left.

“It was I and my wife who used to feed him.”

The CP however said efforts are still on to arrest other gang members who are at large.