A 30-year-suspected kidnapper, Bassey Nsense, who was among those that abducted the wife of a Court of Appeal Judge, Ekwele Agube, has disclosed how his pastor lured and tricked him into the waiting arms of Operatives of the Inspector-General of Police Special Intelligence Response Team in Cross Rivers State.
Before dragging the wife of the Judge off to an unknown destination, they killed her aide, Glory Egbela.
The Judge’s wife was released after spending 14 days in the kidnappers’ den, while her family parted with N6.8 million as ransom.
However, a few days after, IRT Operatives, who were detailed to investigate and track down the kidnappers succeeded in arresting six members of the gang: Nsense, alias Lion; Edet Ene; Christopher Effaeyo; Etim Offiong; Bassey Effiong; and Luis Otubassy.
The operatives also recovered two locally made guns and 15 live cartridges from the suspects.
Nsense, 30, a primary school dropout, married with four children, confessed to have taken to kidnapping like a duck to water because he had no means of feeding his children.
He said everything turned bad for him and his family during the lockdown, which followed the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
He also mentioned that they were six gang members, who carried out the abduction of Ekwele on July 4.
The six men cornered her along Ministry Road, off NPA Junction, Calabar.
He recalled that a few weeks after he completed an operation with his gang, he got a call from his pastor, asking him to come to the church.
He never bargained that the call from his pastor was engineered by IRT Operatives.
He trusted the pastor implicitly, never thinking the cleric could betray him.
When he got to the church, IRT Operatives were on him like fleas on dogs.
He blamed COVID-19 for his venture into crime.
Recounting his life’s journey, Nsense said: “My father had no job and my mother left him. I was left on the streets of Calabar to fend for myself.
“I couldn’t learn any skill, and was just roaming the streets.
“But five years ago, I met my wife.
“We became friends and I impregnated her.
“She ended up having four children for me.
“I was doing menial jobs to sustain my family, but when the COVID-19 pandemic started, there was a lockdown, I had no job and my family was hungry.
“One of my friends, Christian, introduced me into kidnapping.”
Following the abduction of Ekwele, her husband, Justice Ignatius Agube, contacted the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, informing him of the development.
The IGP deployed IRT Operatives, led by a Deputy Commissioner of Police, Abba Kyari, to track and arrest the suspects.
Investigation was launched and IRT tracked one of the phone numbers used in negotiating for ransom to a gang leader, later identified as Nsense.
During interrogation, he confessed to the crime and assisted operatives in the arrest of five other members, including the gang’s informant, cook and boat boy.
Nsense said he led members of his gang in the abduction of two persons, a Cameroonian Diplomat and an Igbo businessman.
The victims, who spent a week in the kidnappers’ den, were released after payment of ransom.
Nsense narrated: “I joined kidnapping because I couldn’t get money to feed my children.
“Our first operation was at White Market area of Calabar, where we kidnapped an Igbo man selling vehicle spare parts.
“We were six that went for that operation and we had six pistols.
“We kidnapped the victim along the road and took him to Waterside.
“I left them at that point and went home.
“Our members took him to our camp.
“It was Christian who negotiated for the ransom and N2 Million was eventually paid.
“I got N300,000 as my share, which I used in buying clothes and food for my children.
“I gave part of the money to my brother; he is unemployed.
“I also gave N50,000 to my wife to start a small business.”
He noted that a month after his first operation, the gang embarked on another operation, abducting a Cameroonian.
How was the foreigner abducted?
He replied: “We found him on the streets, he wanted to buy something.
“After we kidnapped him, Christian collected his car and sold it.
“We took him into the creek, but I didn’t go with them because I didn’t know how to swim.
“Christian was also the person who negotiated for the ransom.
“The man spent a week in our camp before his family paid N2 million as ransom.
“I got N270,000 as my share.
“I used part of the money to buy a pistol from Christian.
“He sells locally made guns in the Ikang area of the state.
“The third operation was brought by Christian’s friend, Luis.
“I used the pistol in that operation.
“They told me the woman we were going to kidnap was very rich.
“We believed that if we abduct her, her husband or family members would pay huge sums of money for her release.”
According to the suspect, Luis was the person that monitored Ekwele’s movement up to the moment she was abducted.
“Before the gang could abduct her, there was a stiff resistance from policemen who were on a patrol, leading to a gun duel.
“I didn’t know that somebody died in that confrontation. It was after we were arrested I heard someone was killed,” Nsense said.
He further narrated: “It was also Christian that negotiated for ransom after Ekwele was kidnapped.
“He collected N4.8 million from the victim’s family and absconded.
“The boys looking after the woman in the creek refused to release her, insisting they wanted their share of the ransom.
“I went after Christian, but he eluded me.
“He dropped the woman’s phone at a place and directed me to where I could find it.
“He asked me to call the victim’s family and demand for another N2 million.
“The family gave me the money.
“I called the boys at the camp, and they released the woman to me.
“I got N350,000 as my share.
“I gave the informant N100,000.
“A few weeks after, I got a call from my pastor, who asked me to come to the church that he needed to see me.
“When I got there, IRT Operatives surrounded me.”
Another suspect, Otubassy, 25, the gang’s informant and motorcycle operator, said he took to kidnapping following the government’s ban of motorcycles in Cross Rivers State.
He said: “It was Nsense, who we call Lion, that initiated me into the gang.
“I was using the motorcycle to carry the gang members around town to look for victims to kidnap.
“On the kidnapping of the Appeal Court judge’s wife, I didn’t know her husband was a judge.
“I thought she was a contractor.
“I was the person who pressurised others to kidnap her.
“Unfortunately, her aide was killed in the process.
“I was given N70,000 as my share.
“I didn’t know they got N6.8 milion from the woman.
“I was only looking for money to buy pampers for my baby.
“Now I feel very sad that I got only N70,000 out of N6.8 million.”
Ene, 28, is the gang’s boat operator.
The suspect, who said he’s an orphan, added that he had no helper and so decided to do something to help himself.
He said his mother died when he was five years old and that he didn’t know his dad.
His role in the gang is to ferry the gang’s victims to their camp.
His words: “I’m the person that used to paddle the boat into the creek.
“We used to spend 30 minutes on the water before we get to the camp.
“I’m also the person that used to buy food for the victims.
“On the first day the gang called me, I ferried their victim into the creek and yes, I stayed in the creek with them.
“I was paid N180,000.
“When ransom was paid for the release of the victim, I used the money to rent a house for myself.
“I have been struggling alone for a long time.
“When I was told about kidnapping, I fell for the idea because I was already feeling hopeless.
“I got N100,000 on the second operation.
“I bought a mattress at the rate of N70,000 with the money.
“I didn’t enjoy the money before the police came to arrest me.”
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