Seven months after a post-graduate student of
Nasarawa State University, Keffi, Miss Cynthia Osokogu was killed by
friends she met on social media, Facebook, an undergraduate of Kogi
State University, Lokoja, Kogi State, Oludoyi Bamidele Samuel, has been
abducted by a kidnap syndicated, facilitated by a friend he also met on
Facebook. Samuel was, however, lucky, as he is alive to tell the story
of how his supposed friend, identified as Michael (surname unknown) by
the Delta State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Ikechukwu Aduba, lured him
from Enugu to Warri, DeltaState. A kidnap gang facilitated by Michael,
currently at large, held him hostage for three days before Police
officers from the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS, stormed their
hideout at Uzor Street, Agbarho, and seized three of the suspects.
They demanded N5 million ransom from Samuel’s mother to effect his
release and were relocating him to another location when the police
pounced on them. Commissioner Aduba gave the names of the suspects
cooling off in police cell as Anibor Oghenekparabo, Onoriode Omamowho
and Kelvin Orotoma. Cynthia was killed in a hotel in Festac, Lagos,
which she was lured to in July 2012, by her Facebook friends, but the
intent of Samuel’s abductors was to extort money from his parents. Mr.
Aduba, who confirmed that Samuel has reunited with his Enugu-based
parents said, “He was invited by a friend, identified as Michael, who he
met on Facebook for a birthday party in Warri.
They have not met face to face before this incident, but have been
chatting on the internet. He must have found out his background through
his interaction with him on the social media.” “So, they plotted how to
abduct him and make money. Samuel, the only son of his parents, who his
kidnappers believe are well to do, left his parents in Enugu without
telling them where he was going to and entered a vehicle to Warri. “He
(Samuel was discussing with Michael on phone and called him on when he
got to Warri, but his so-called friend had ulterior motive. He had
arranged with others to kidnap him and Samuel was whisked to a house at
Uzor Street, Agbarho, where he was held hostage for three days,” Aduba
asserted.
Samuel was dumbfounded by the entire affair, as he was kept
incommunicado in a compound that had other residents. His break came
when some persons, who suspected the movement of the suspected
kidnappers, got in touch with the police. The suspects also decoded that
their secret had been uncovered and arranged to move the victim, but
the police struck at the nick of time. Commissioner Aduba was, however,
disturbed that people could leave their homes to visit so-called friends
they met on Facebook without proper security check. “I do not
understand this; I am warning young men and women to stop this behavior.
How can you leave your home to go a birthday party by somebody you do
not know, all because both of you met on Facebook, this is ridiculous.
“People should help the police by being security conscious. Can you
imagine, he left Enugu without telling his parents and the suspected
kidnappers were using his phone to call his parents, asking for ransom,”
he said.
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