16102021 - Southeast Gov INEC top official in trouble over $4m bribe

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28—SATURDAY Vanguard, OCTOBER 16, 2021 Why we don't kidnap women Confession of bandits who kidnapped two o Rev. . Father athers, s, killed businessman after er collecting ransom in Kaduna My role “I watch over kidnapped victims in the bush until ransom is paid for their release. I made N800,000 in all the operations and I used the money to drink and carry women. Nobody knows I am a kidnapper in the community”, he said. On his part, his alleged partner in crime , Usman Babagida, disclosed that his role in the gang was to guard kidnapped victims. He said, “ I have received only N600,0000, as my share so far. We don’t kidnap women because they are the ones who go to look for ransom for the release of their husbands”. Siblings arrested too Also arrested were Abubakar Suleiman, 36 and Auwal Suleiman, who confessed to belonging to another kidnap gang terrorizing Kaduna state. This gang specialized in sending threat messages of kidnap to well to do residents, demanding N100,000 and N500,000 , as exemption fee. Whoever failed to pay the amount would have his home broken into and kidnapped. They would not be released until double of the demanded amount is paid. •Siblings kidnappers (Abubakar Suleiman (l) and Auwal Suleiman ) By Evelyn Usman For some time now, communities in Kaduna state and other parts of the Northern region have been under kidnappers’ siege. Having succeeded in chasing farmers away from their farmlands, these kidnappers who hide under the guise of bandits, commandeered these farmlands into dens where kidnapped victims are kept until ransom is paid. Recently, these gangs resorted to storming villagers’ homes to kidnap them. They kill anyone who attempts to put up resistance or tries to fight them. They also send text messages to well to do residents, demanding for hundreds of thousands of naira, with a threat to kidnap them if they did not meet the demand. Irked by the brazen effrontery, the Inspector- General of Police, IGP Usman Alkali Baba, directed the Officer incharge of the Force Intelligence Response Team, DCP Tunji Disu, to crack members of the notorious gangs down and put an end to their reign of terror. This led to the arrest of many suspected members of different kidnap gangs by the IRT. During preliminary investigation, it was discovered that these gangs were also responsible for the series of incidents of stolen cattle and robberies in Kaduna state. They kill anyone who attempts to put up resistance or tries to fight them Among those arrested were two suspected members of one of the notorious gangs. The suspects: Salisu Abdullahi(28), from Kagarko area of Kaduna and Babaginda Usman, disclosed during interrogation that his gang was responsible for over ten cases of kidnap in the state. Among the kidnapped victims mentioned were two Reverend Fathers and two businessmen, one of whom was killed after collecting ransom from his family .. Confession In this interview with Crime Guards, the suspects opened up on their respective roles in the deadly gangs and their modus operandi. For Salisu Abdullai, he said, “ I was once a farmer. I began with cattle rustling before graduating into kidnapping. I joined a kidnap gang last year. There are five members in the gang. I voluntarily joined kidnapping because I have no father or mother. Since I joined, my gang has carried out kidnap operations in Kushemakaranta, Rafinkinba, Kuditlri, Kwei, along Nasarawa express road and Kurumikari, all in Kaduna state. Victim killed The first person we kidnapped was Chinedu, a businessman . He was kidnapped in his house. It was our gang leader that brought information about him. Our gang leader lives in the same area as Chinedu. He spent three days in the bush before his family paid N500,000 for his release. But on the day he was to be released , he fought with one of us because he wanted to escape and our gang leader ordered us to kill him. •Kidnap suspects ((Salisu Abdullahi(l) and Babangida Usman Second victim The second victim was also called Chinedu, a trader. He was riding his motorbike to Kagaruku. Our leader who had information on him was riding his motorbike behind him . He (gang leader)called us on the phone to inform us that Chinedu was on his way. He gave us a directive on when to strike. We abducted him and took him into the bush. We collected N700,000 from for his release Victim lured “I don’t know the name of the third victim. But we collected N700,000 from him too. He was kidnapped in the market. He is a trader and deals in ginger. We told him we had ginger on the farm and he volunteered to follow us. On the way we kidnapped him. The fourth victim was a Reverend Father. We broke into his house at Kushemakaranta around 3am. We went with three guns .He opened the door when we knocked . He was the only one at home and he didn’t put up any resistance. We also took him to the bush and released him after a N1m ransom was paid. Another Reverend father was abducted and we collected N8 Million from his people before we released him. We kidnapped the sixth victim from the farm and we collected N300,000 for ransom. Informant killed When information of the gang’s tyranny reached the Force IRT, it acted on intelligence and arrested Abubakar. Few days after his arrest, his younger brother Auwal, stormed a village in Manufashi Local Government Area of Kaduna state at midnight and emptied 30 bullets on the suspected informant identified as Isah abdul. When asked why he killed Abdul, Auwal responded unremorsefully, “ I killed him because he was also the leader of a kidnap gang. Why would he expose another kidnapper?” Explaining how he carried out the mission, Auwal said, “ We were three that went to the informant’s house : Dogo , Mutari and I , at about 12 midnight. We met him sleeping. When we forced the door open, we saw him holding a cutlass to attack us. We blew him up with our guns. He once stole our cows and I suspected he was the one that gave information that led to my brother’s arrest”. His elder brother who admitted to being a kidnapper, opened up on those he had kidnapped in the community. He said, “ The first person I kidnapped was Alhaji Abass. We live in the same area. He owns a filling station. Dogo(gang member at large ) called him on the phone to bring N300,000. He threatened that if he did not bring it, he would be kidnapped. When he brought the money, we collected it and still kidnapped him. We collected additional N500,000 for his release. “That is how we threatened people, My gang also kidnapped two Igbo businessmen who sell medicine in that community. I only followed them for operation twice. But the gang has kidnapped many people The role I play in the gang is to pick passengers with my bike and when I get to the junction where my gang members are, I will stop, pretending as if the motorbike has developed a fault . While waiting, my gang will come out of the bush to carry the person. I have an AK 47 rifle. I bought it for N470,000", he said. The suspects were paraded by the Force Public Relations Officer, CP Frank Mba, alongside others who have been terrorizing the northern parts of the country, at the IRT office , Abuja. He informed that efforts were on to arrest other fleeing members of the respective gangs, adding that those arrested would be charged to court.
We begged women to urinate for us to drink to stay alive •Illegal emigrant narrat ates deadly experience in desert t while trying to move to Europe •Sight of Mediterranean sea forced me to cancel trip to Italy BY Emmanuel Iheaka Twenty two years after walking through the valley of the shadow of death, in search of greener pastures, Stephen Onyekamma has remained terrified. Unlike those who by faith would confess they fear no evil when confronted with such pangs of death, reliving of his experience still sends shivers down the spines of Onyekamma. As he narrated his experience in the sahara desert to Saturday Vanguard, Onyekamma would intermittently pause out of traumatic effect and in thanksgiving to God for sparing his life. Initially, he was reluctant about recounting the experience, as he insisted it was one he wouldn’t want to remember. But upon insistence by our correspondent, Onyekamma buckled. Journey to Libya Six years after graduating from the Imo State University (IMSU), and after failed attempts to secure a job, Onyekamma decided to get out of Nigeria. That was in 1999. The graduate of Political Science had Italy as his destination country. Rather than following the right process of seeking visa into the European destination, he opted to go through the desert. From Owerri, Onyekamma moved to Kebbi State and from Kebbi to Niger Republic. According to him, Niger Republic was a converging ground for those seeking to smuggle themselves into Europe through the desert. Unfortunately for the young graduate, he arrived Niger Republic in 1999 at a time he said the country was thrown into turmoil due to a coup d’ etat in which the country’s president was killed. Though he said he was aware of the coup, that however, could not deter him as he was desperate to hit the deadly desert. Waiting for the political unrest in Niger to subside could be a dream killer for him. Onyekamma therefore, resolved to weather the storm. “After my graduation, I searched for job but couldn’t get. After six years, I decided to travel to Europe through the desert. My plan was to get to Libya, work a little and then move through the Mediterranean Sea to Italy. “Before I left in 1999, I knew there was a coup in Niger, but I couldn’t wait, since I had already made up my mind to travel”. Robbed in Niger Onyekamma had undergone tutelage on how one could safeguard his money while in the desert. According to him, there were three available options - hiding the money in the collar of one’s dress while making the dress, or opening the heel of a shoe to conceal it. The third option was to tie the money in a nylon and swallow it, with the hope of excreting it during the call of nature. All of these options however, could not save Onyekamma. While in Niger Republic trying to board a Libya bound vehicle, he ran into rebels who he said had seized control of part of the country. They stripped him of his belongings, forcing him to return to the capital city of Niger. The rebels had mastered the modus operandi of the emigrants. “The first setback I had was being robbed by rebels in Niger. I hid my money in the collar of my shirt, but the fear of being killed would even make one to surrender the money willingly. Having lost all I had, I returned to the capital city to restrategize. I was in Niger for about two years to raise SATURDAY Vanguard, OCTOBER 16, 2021—29 some money before I took off again”. Experience in the desert Those who navigate through the desert do their best to get well equipped for the deadly journey. While water and snacks are desideratum, the transporters also go with mechanics, should the vehicle break down in the desert. However, there are very dreadful situations in which a vehicle that developed fault in the desert would require changing some parts. This could be the most traumatizing fate that could befall anyone travelling through the desert. When such happens, Onyekamma said the driver and his crew would abandon the emigrants in the desert and make their way back to Niger with a promise of returning with the vehicle parts. In some cases, Onyekamma submitted that the emigrants were abandoned for weeks. In such cruel situation, the travellers are left stranded and at the mercy of death, as they run out of water and snacks. Dehydration would set in, and they would be ready to drink anything liquid, including urine, in a battle for survival. But would the urine even be available? Onyekamma said it was at the desert he realized men slide into dehydration faster than women. “When you run out of water in the desert, you would be desperate to drink anything liquid. It was at the desert I observed that a woman’s body had more water than that of a man. Men fell into dehydration faster than women. We begged women to try to urinate for us to drink to gain some strength. Whoever is able to urinate then, becomes a saviour. “Out of every 50 persons going through the desert, only about 20 could survive”, he narrated. Life in Libya After about two weeks in the desert, Onyekamma finally arrived Libya. At the North African country, he went for training on vehicle alignment, and was able to master it within a short time. With the job, he could raise money to feed. But he was overcome by the sight of the terrifying Mediterranean Sea. He therefore, decided to go through the desert again to return to Nigeria, rather than heading to Italy. “When I saw the boat they use in conveying people to Europe and the rampaging Mediterranean Sea, I became terrified and decided to return to Nigeria. I felt it was more dangerous stepping on the sea, than returning to the desert. That was how I returned to Nigeria in 2005”. Return to Nigeria Today, Onyekamma, a father of five, having survived in the desert, believes nothing can kill him except God says it’s time. Unfortunately, he is yet to conquer money for which he soldiered through the desert. He is still struggling with the vicissitudes of life. While hoping that some day, life would get better, he holds that desert should never be an option for anyone who values life. Can this Amazon find in death the rest life never gave her? •From paralysis to adulterated kerosene explosion: Life and times of citizen Nwaeruru Chinyere Ohaegbulam By Emmanuel Iheaka When Nwaeruru Chinyere Ohaegbulam was born about four decades ago, her family had no premonition that life had reserved for the newly born, what could be described as the worst form of cruelty. For a family that had prayed and waited earnestly for a female child after five males, her arrival expectedly, brought great joy. But all of that was cut short when life fired the first cruel shot at the age of three. According to her elder brother, Mr. Chinedu Ohaegbulam, measles had hit Nwaeruru at the age of three. It was a time she was already beginning to walk. Her parents as expected had taken her to a hospital for medication, where she was injected. That was all life needed to get her down. The injection, Ohaegbulam said, paralyzed Nwaeruru. “My younger sister walked for only two years and few months in her entire existence on planet earth; after she sat, crawled, held something to stand on, and finally put the first wobbling tiny leg forward, as a baby. “At age three, she came down with measles, and was taken to Mbano General Hospital, and was injected by one Robert, a member of staff of the hospital, which paralyzed her limbs. This happened in the early 1970s. “Nwaeruru was a paragon of beauty right from birth, which made our father to give her that name. She was born after our father had prayed and longed for a girl-child, because he already had five boys. The birth of Nwaeruru was celebrated by my father in a manner he never celebrated his first five boys and the other children that came later. “When the injection calamity happened, our parents went literally berserk, especially our father. They did everything humanly possible to make Nwaeruru walk again, but all to no avail. They fought the paralysis through the orthodox, unorthodox, spiritual, traditional, religious, as many people came with suggestions on what could be done to arrest the situation”. When all hope to revive her limps appeared lost, Ohaegbulam said Nwaeruru was confined to a wheelchair. Growing up to realize that her limps were not capable of moving the way those of her contemporaries did, Nwaeruru accepted her fate and resolved to push on, with the struggles of life. A native of Ogbor-Ihitteaforukwu, Ahiazu Mbaise Local Government Area of Imo State, Nwaeruru was later to be employed at the local government headquarters of the council. But life was not yet done with dealing a deadly blow on Nwaeruru. On July 9, 2021, Nwaeruru in an attempt to refill a burning lantern with kerosene, became a victim of •Nwaeruru Chinyere Ohaegbulam explosion. “ On July 9, 2021, while Nwaeruru was on her bed, preparing to retire, but not without refilling the tank of the lantern that served as electricity in the house; as she poured the kerosene into the lantern, there was an explosion. On hearing the screams of her daughter; her great companion and caregiver for years, our mother used the last ounce of strength and courageously battled with her daughter to put out the raging balls of flame in the room. But much damages had happened to Nwaeruru’s face and body”, the brother narrated. In the last three months, Nwaeruru’s siblings did everything humanly possible, within their limited resources to save her life, but their best was not enough. While Nwaeruru battled with paralysis and burnt, she was also deprived of 14 months salaries, according to her brother. Neither her disability, nor the degree of the burnt could make government to release her salaries despite concerted efforts by her brother. She however, gave up the ghost on October 3, 2021. “Nwaeruru was an Amazon; a fighter who faced life with courage. She never fell seriously ill before her death. She hated to be pitied because of her physical challenge. She was my friend; My siblings and I cared for her till her last breathe”, Ohaegbulam submitted. It is believed that Nwaeruru will find in death the rest life never granted her.
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16102021 - Southeast Gov INEC top official in trouble over $4m bribe

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