A suspected kidnapper, Bello Mohammed, 37, has narrated in chilling details how they abducted a businessman, Osondu Nwachukwu, cut off his head and then cut his body into tiny pieces before stashing them into a sack.
Mohammed, a cattle farmer married with two wives and eight children, said they had to carry out the killing immediately it became obvious that Nwachukwu had recognised the voice of the man that hired them to kidnap him for ransom.
However, Nwachukwu’s wife, Nnenna Nwachukwu, had been fretting that her husband was murdered because she delayed in raising the N5 million ransom demanded by the kidnappers.
Mohammed said: “While at the hideout, the Igbo man who gave us the job called, and we told him the situation.
“He said that the wife was lying and not serious to save the life of her husband.
“Unfortunately, Osondu overheard our conversation and was able to identify the voice of the man that gave us the job.
“The man told us to kill him after collecting the money.
“We were ready to spare him but his wife was not making any serious effort to get the N5 million.
“Dogo got angry and said that he was no longer interested in the job.
“The man begged for his life, but Dogo was blinded with rage and before we could stop him, he used his machete and cut off the man’s head.
“Since he was already dead, Dogo butchered him into pieces and packed him into a sack.
“I and two others were given the body to dispose at the nearest river.
“We tried to dig a grave to bury him, but we feared people might notice us.
“We used a wheelbarrow to move the butchered remains at about 7pm on Sunday, hoping to dispose of his remains.
“But we were stopped by some men returning from the Mosque.
“We all left the corpse and ran away.
“I guess they were the ones that reported the matter to the police.”
The Police described the deceased as a successful businessman, who owns a sachet water factory at Lafia, Nasarawa State.
He was kidnapped on September, 30, 2019 in his house and his abductors later called his wife asking for N5 million ransom.
The petrified woman was said to have dashed from pillar to post, trying valiantly to raise the money.
By the time she could get in touch with the kidnappers, they had butchered Nwachukwu into pieces and stuffed his remains into a sack.
The police said: “When they were about to dispose of his remains, some men who were heading to the mosque saw them pushing something in a truck.
“When one of the curious men stopped and asked what they were pushing at such hour of the day, they scampered in different directions and escaped.
“When they saw the content of the sack, they reported to the police.”
Mohammed was arrested by Operatives of the Force Intelligence Response Team, headed by a Deputy Commissioner of Police, Abba Kyari.
Acting on credible information, Kyari and his men arrested Mohammed, residing in Nasarawa State.
He was arrested on March 11, 2021.
While confessing to the crime, he admitted that he and his other members were not only involved in kidnapping, but also in cattle rustling.
He identified the fleeing members as Maikano, Dogo, Hassan and Jubril.
Mohammed told the police that an Igbo man in Lafia brought the job of abducting Nwachukwu for ransom.
The police further said: “They decided to kill him when his family was not willing to pay ransom on time.
“After killing him, they dumped his body in a bush at Bukan Koto along Makurdi Maraba-Ankunza Road, Lafia.”
The widow said she and her late husband have six children.
She also said that from time to time, she used to run the sachet water business with him.
She recalled that on November 30, 2019, she was at home when the kidnappers stormed their apartment and abducted Nwachukwu.
She said: “Later in the night, I received a call that I should bring N40 million if I wanted to see my husband alive.
“I pleaded with them to have mercy as it was Friday and banks had closed.
“They asked me how much I had, I said N40,000.
“They asked me to bring the money, which I did that night.
“We were waiting when I received a call from them that I should not bother as my husband was dead.
“I was told that the person that arranged his kidnap was from the East, but I’m not suspecting anyone at all.
“God will punish the person behind my husband’s kidnap and death.”
Mohammed said: “By the side, the young ones normally go out to look for other sources of making quick money through cattle rustling and kidnapping.
“Things are hard as a farmer and I have eight children.
“It was my brother-in-law, Dogo, who encouraged me to join them.
“He was the one that took me for the first job.
“He heard that things were difficult for us financially and decided to show me the way.
“On the abduction of Osondu, it was his fellow Igbo guy that brought the operation.
“He told us that Osondu owns a sachet water company and was very stingy.
“He said that Osondu would pay as much as N10 million for his release if kidnapped because he was so rich.”
The informant further gave them details on the movement of Osondu and the place and the ideal time to grab him.
On the fateful day, Mohammed said that they went on three motorcycles.
They got to the community at about 8:30pm and hung around Nwachukwu’s compound.
He narrated: “One of us waited for him at the factory area and followed him home.
“He was the one who alerted us that they were on the way to the house.
“As soon as he drove into his compound at about 9pm, we followed, grabbed and overpowered him.
“We searched his house for valuables and then dragged him along.
“We carried him on one of our motorcycles and threatened to kill if he dared to raise the alarm.
“When we got to a spot, we stopped and trekked for hours into Bukan Koto forest in Lafia.”
Inside the forest, there were farmers living with their wives and children.
Dogo has a small hut where the gang kept their victim.
Nwachukwu’s wife was then called and ordered to bring N5 million if she wanted to see her husband alive again.
She promised to get it by weekend.
Mohammed claimed that the abduction of Nwachukwu was his first kidnap operation, where they had to kill the victim.
Since he started kidnapping for ransom, his biggest haul was N1.3 million.
He also remembered that there was a time the gang stole 1,400 cattle and sold them.
Asked what security forces could do to check kidnapping in Nigeria, Mohammed said: “The only way to stop kidnapping is by arresting the kingpins and punish them.
“This is because the kingpins are the ones recruiting boys regularly to replace the ones that were killed or arrested.
“I take tramadol and marijuana every day and these drugs are expensive.
“We now have 25mil of tramadol which is stronger.
“Everyone takes it and we give it to the person that we kidnap, so that they will have strength to trek for hours into the bush.
“Normally, after every successful kidnap operation, we will remove money for hard drugs, which Dogo uses to buy plenty of drugs for us.
“The drugs usually last for two weeks before another job comes.”
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