Monarch’s kidnap: Accused collected N15.1m ransom — Witness

A prosecution witness in the ongoing trial on the kidnap of Oba Goriola Oseni, the Oniba of Iba in Lagos State, on Tuesday told an Igbosere High Court that the monarch’s family paid N15.1 million as ransom to the kidnappers.
Dele-Ojo Oduayo, an Investigative Police Officer attached to the Inspector-General of Police, Force Headquarters, Abuja, gave the testimony during proceedings in the Lagos court.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the traditional ruler was kidnapped at his palace at Iba on July 16, 2016.
Four men – Duba Furejo, Ododowo Isaiah, Reuben Anthony and Yerin Fresh – are facing an eight-count charge bordering on conspiracy, murder, attempted murder, armed robbery, and kidnapping, over the incident.
The police had said the accused also murdered ‎a security guard, Sunday Okanlawon; a commercial motorcyclist, Joseph Okeke; and robbed the monarch’s wife of her cell phone before shooting her several times.
The offences contravened Sections ‎233, 230, 299, 297 (2) (b) and 411 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.
Oduayo, who testified on Tuesday, was introduced by Jide Martins, an Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions, as the seventh prosecution witness.
The witness told the court that the family of the traditional ruler had paid the money to the kidnappers before he was moved to Lagos to investigate the case.
He said that the family was about to pay another ransom to the kidnappers before his team swung into action.
Oduayo also told the court that his team ambushed the first accused, Furejo, in the creek, and arrested him.
Oduayo said: “Furejo was carrying a nylon bag containing N200,000 at the time of his arrest; he confessed that the money was part of the ransom money.”
He testified that Furejo linked the second accused, Isaiah, to the crime and said he (Isaiah) was escaping to Abeokuta in Ogun State.
He said: “We arrested Isaiah at Iyana Ipaja garage, as he was boarding a bus to Abeokuta.”
The IPO also narrated to the court how the third and fourth accused was arrested.
He said that Isaiah had confessed to his team that the third accused was given N800,000 from the ransom, which the fourth accused got a share from.
The IPO said the statements of all the accused were taken and their interrogation was recorded on video.
After the testimony of the witness, the prosecutor tendered the statements of the accused, the video recordings, the photographs of the scene of the crime and the N200,000 cash found with the first accused.
The accused counsel, S. W. Baidi, Anthony Onwueze and G. O. Egwuaroje, all objected to the admissibility of the documents.
Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo said the video recordings must be viewed in the open court to ascertain its contents before it would be admitted.
Taiwo, however, admitted the other documents in evidence and adjourned the case to March 3 for continuation of trial.