About six suspected kidnappers on Wednesday were arraigned at Plateau State High Court sitting in Jos, as family members of a kidnapped 10-year-old girl are calling for justice against a gang of six kidnappers already in the police net.
Justice M.I Gang adjourned the case to 5th November 2020 for the continuation of hearing by ordering the accused persons to be remanded in the correctional centre while the counsel to the accused persons, Barrister A.M. Bello moved an application for bail.
The following kidnappers, Mr Felix Moses; Sani Saleh; Yahaya Abubakar; Sale Yau; Ana’s Adams was arraigned over criminal conspiracy and use of dangerous weapons for kidnapping the daughter of Adeshina Afolabi punishable under section 245 Plateau penal code law.
The prosecutor counsel Barrister O.S. Osho applied that the accused persons be remanded in the correctional centre but when the charges were read to the accused persons they pleaded not guilty for the offence they committed.
Spokesmen of the family, Mr Ayo George, made the call in an interview with newsmen as he said George, “we are grateful to the doggedness of the Operation Safe Haven (OPSH) known as Special Tasks Force (STF); who helped us tracked down and arrested the six kidnappers including our Guard,”
“When they were arrested, the STF handed them over to the Plateau Police Command for prosecution”.
“All that we want as victims of the kidnap is nothing but justice to be done against the kidnappers, who are presently being detained at the State Criminal Investigators Division (CID),” he stated.
George explained that in the night of February 16, the kidnappers stormed the house of his elder brother in Rafiki, around Dong with an AK47 and machetes and took away his 10-year-old niece after collecting N231,0000 from the family.
According to him, the “All that we want as victims of the kidnap is nothing but justice to be done against the kidnappers, who are presently being detained at the State Criminal Investigators Division (CID),” he stated.
He narrated that the kidnappers, five in numbers took away the frightened and crying innocent 10-year-old girl, only to call at about 3.00 A.M of February 17 demanding for a ransom of N10 million without which they threatened to kill the little girl.
“But after continuous negotiation with them (kidnappers) they insisted on N1.5 million.
It took the spirited effort of friends, family members, and the body of Christ to raise the sum.
“We were asked to come to Bukuru Low-cost at 7.00 P.M on that day. From there they directed us to Gero junction after Jos South Local Government Secretariat.
“From that point, they kept directing us towards Gero village where we drove like for about 20km from the junction,” he lamented.
The worried George said that when they eventually met the kidnappers, they collected the N1.5 million and confirmed that it was complete before showing them (family) where to pick the girl.
He said, “They then directed us to drive further where we met our daughter (the girl) standing all alone around a bush path beside an abandoned school.”
“But the amazing thing about the whole episode is that from the house CCTV footage, we were able to establish some suspicious behaviour of our security man, one Felix Moses, before and on the day of the kidnap.”
“We quickly invited the STF operatives, who arrested the guard for interrogation and to our dismay, he eventually confessed to the crime.