WHEN Mr. Idowu Obembe, the Director of Nobility Stores, Ilesa, Osun State, left his residence in the early hours of Sunday August 5th 2012, neither did he nor any member of his family have the slightest premonition of the fate that would later befall him. Unknown to him, he was embarking on a journey of no return, and would not have the opportunity to return home to eat the dinner his wife prepared for him that day. He was abducted right in front of his beer depots located in Oke-Esho area of Ilesa, by a gang of suspected criminals that specialised in kidnapping, armed robbery, car snatching, house breaking and stealing.
The report of the abduction got to the Osun State police command, a team of detectives attached to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Osogbo, was charged by the State Commissioner of Police, Mrs Dorothy Gimba, to act within all possible means to rescue the 62-year-old business mogul, who was well known in Ilesa and its environs as having the largest beer depots.
Before then, the kidnap syndicate had carried out several kidnap activities. Among their victims were Mr Ogundoyin Popoola (a.k.a. Populat), in Ife; Wole Komolafe, the son of one Sunday Komolafe, who had before the kidnap of his son received a threat letter posted on his uncompleted building; Alhaji Kayode Adenuga (popularly called Igi-nla) and Olanrewaju Oladipo.
According to Mr Komolafe, the kidnappers asked him to pay the sum of N40 million; but it was gathered that he never reported the threat letter to the police. Exactly a month later, precisely in October 29, 2012, the notorious leader of the gang, Ahmed (who had a big boutique in Academy area of Ibadan) and his gang kidnapped Evangelist Olajide John, while Alhaji Akeem Sulaiman (a building materials seller) was also abducted by the same syndicate.
The efforts of police officers in Osun State later led to the arrest of four out of the gang members. One of them, Supo Bamidele, was arrested on 20 June 2012 by police detectives after the kidnap of Alhaji Adenaya Kehinde on June 4, 2012 and the victim rescued unhurt. Normalcy was restored to the state against kidnapping as the long arm of the law caught up with four of these members, who are now in prison, while others who could not withstand the hot chase of the police fled to other states.
Gbadegesin Ifeoluwa, who was also fingered as a principal member of the gang, has been on the run since. Others were arrested. Efforts of the unrelenting detectives, however, paid off in the early hours of August 23, 2013 when he was apprehended at Elere Area, Apata, Ibadan, Oyo State.
His arrest led the operatives to a thick forest along Ilesa-Akure road where Nobility was held hostage over a year ago. After a frantic search, the victim’s corpse was found in the bush. His family was immediately contacted for identification before the photograph was taken. The victim was identified through his pair of shoes and clothes, and his remains were removed and deposited in the mortuary for autopsy.
Ifeoluwa, popularly referred to by his gang members as Commander (which was his operation name) revealed the dastardly act perpetrated by this notorious gang.
Exhibits recovered from the suspect include an unregistered Toyota Highlander SUV and Honda Accord. While investigation was ongoing, it was revealed that Dada Adedeji and Yinusa were arrested in Ekiti State by the police for robbery and were remanded in prison. When policemen from Osun State traced them to the prison, it was discovered that the duo had changed their names to Olumorewa Oluwatosin and Sogo Tope respectively.
Saturday Tribune had an interview with Ifeoluwa. Below are the excerpts:
Can you give an insight into your background?
I am Ifeoluwa Gbadegesin, from Efon Alaaye in Ekiti State. I am 29 years old. I live in Ilesa where I was born. I am married with one child.
Do your parents stay in Ilesa?
Yes, but I don’t know where they are since I ran away when I knew police were after us after we kidnapped someone.
Before you started kidnapping people, what were you doing?
I was into furniture making.
Where were you practising this trade?
In Ado-Ekiti.
What is your educational qualification?
I am a Primary Six School Leaving Certificate holder.
Why did you leave your furniture work to start kidnapping?
It was someone that I would call an area brother and friend, Ahmed, who introduced me to this work. I knew him in Ilesa. He had already done some kidnapping operations before calling me to join him. He had an operation to carry out in Ife and did not have a vehicle to use; so he called me.
When exactly did you join him in kidnapping?
May 2012.
How many people have you kidnapped?
They are about four.
Please name them.
They are Mr Idowu Obembe (a.k.a. Nobility), Igi Nla, a pastor from Ilesa and the child of a man called Mr Sunday Komolafe, who has a petrol station.
How much did you get from each of your victims?
We collected N1.5 million from Komolafe, N5.4 million from Igi Nla, N2 million from pastor. I can’t say the exact amount that was collected from the family of Nobility, but Ahmed and I collected N2.4 million.
Why can’t you say the exact amount that was collected from Nobility?
I learnt Ahmed contacted the family and went with one of us, Seun Ogunmusuru, to collect the first ransom without telling the rest of us.
Seun only told us when Ahmed lied to him that he did not get the money.
Where do you usually keep those you kidnapped?
The place is in Ijebu-Jesa. We rented it from a caretaker. Ahmed, Yinusa and I contributed money to pay for the accommodation.
Your purpose for renting the house was to keep your victims there?
Yes.
So, how did you kill Nobility?
I was the driver of our operational car then. Ahmed, Seun, Yinusa, one Igbo guy and I carried out the kidnap on that day. We were at Ijesa Sports Club to monitor Obembe. Immediately he left the club about 12:05am with his Toyota Camry car (Muscle), we followed him with our Honda Accord car to Oke-Esho in Ilesa. Four of us jumped down from our car while I remained behind the steering. Nobility was brought down from his car and we drove to Itawure along Ijebu-Jesa-Ado Ekiti road, where a canopy had been erected in the bush. I left immediately after dropping them beside the expressway and went to Ado-Ekiti.
The following day, Ahmed called and asked me to get them food to eat. I left Ado-Ekiti for Ilesa. Ahmed had told me to call him when I got to the spot where I dropped them the day before. I did that and Ahmed came out of the bush to join me. We went to Ilesa with me thinking we only needed to get food and return to others, but Ahmed just took off to Ibadan without revealing anything to me.
I bought the food and I called Ahmed, complaining that he left me, knowing we were supposed to provide food for others. But he replied that I should go alone to drop the food. It was not long after when others who were left with Nobility called to tell me that he was dead, and that it was Ahmed who covered both his face and nose to threaten him. I called Ahmed but he denied it, saying that the man was still alive when he left the place. Others quickly left the place. I asked Ahmed on the next step to take, suggesting that we brought it out for people to discover. However, he countered my argument by saying that he would not be part of a step that could lead to our arrest if we were found with the corpse. So we left the corpse in that place.
How was the corpse discovered?
I was the one who took the police there when I was arrested. We only saw his skeleton.
Who used to provide information on those to be kidnapped by your gang?
Nobody; we monitored our targets ourselves.
Which class of people did you target?
Those who are well-to-do.
Why did you continue to collect ransom on Nobility, knowing that he was already dead?
After his death, I went back to my shop in Ado-Ekiti to continue with my furniture work. It was Ahmed that went behind everyone and was speaking with the family members about ransom. He went with Seun Ogunmusuru and he was the one who came back to inform me. He was said to have collected N5 million the first time. I was angry because I believed that Seun would not have told me if Ahmed had not tried to outsmart him. I also thought that was why Ahmed said we should keep the body in the bush. They gave us N2.4 million the second time and we shared it.
Can you tell us how you collected money for the kidnappings you did?
In 2012, we collected N5.4 million from Igi-Nla. I was given N1 million; Yinusa N750,000; Igbo guy, N750,000; Dele and Supo N500,000 each and Ahmed N1.9 million. In September, 2012, we kidnapped a pastor of Apostolic Church, Igbogi and collected N2 million as ransom. My share was N550,000; Seun, N200,000; Dada, N350,000; Yinusa N450,000 and Abdulahi N450,000.
We also kidnapped a Celestial Church of Christ pastor in Ilesa, but as soon as we took the pastor into our den, Ahmed fell down and we felt it might be dangerous to abduct the pastor, so he was set free without ransom.
How much was your share in all the four operations you participated in?
N2.35 million.
What did you use your own share to do?
I bought a land in Ilesa, but I have not built on it. I used part of it to buy electronics and pay house rent. I also bought three motorcycles and gave them to riders to use for commercial purpose.
What made you go into kidnapping?
Ahmed drew me into it.
How did you know Ahmed?
Ahmed was a commercial driver. He was living in Ilesa then, but later moved to Ibadan in 2012 to start selling phone accessories.
What other crimes were you into?
I was into armed robbery, car snatching and burglary.
When did you start doing all these other things?
Around 2010.
Where do you normally carry out these operations?
Ilesa. But I started car snatching this year after Ahmed was caught.
How did you know that Ahmed had been arrested?
That time, I heard that police were looking for us. A lawyer who went to bail the family members of one of us called Dada, who in turn told me.
How many robberies did you take part in 2011?
One.
What kind of robbery?
We snatched a car. Yinusa, Ahmed, Seun, Supo, Ife, an Igbo boy and I were involved in the operation. We also collected N45,000 from our victim. It was a Honda Civic car. I repainted it in Ilesa and started using it. We also robbed some people along Iloko road. We collected N120,000 and phones from the owner. We also went to Ondo town for another robbery. I went with Tayo and Kokumo. We went to meet our victim at home and collected laptops and phones. We kept the phones somewhere. We snatched another vehicle, a Honda Accord (End of Discussion), which I started using because the vehicle I was using before was the one we abandoned in Modakeke. I changed the chassis and engine numbers so that I could collect new number plates. There was a Canada-based Ondo indigene that my gang also robbed when he returned home. I did not follow them inside the building. They told me they collected N28,000 and I was given N8,000 and the man’s I-pad.
What kind of guns do you normally use for your operation?
Locally-made barrel guns which we collected from security guards.
Can you speak on the operation you went for in Modakeke where you abandoned a pump action gun and car?
We went to a house to kidnap a man I didn’t know, but we had to abandon our plan when we were sighted and pursued by some okada riders who were assisting the police.
How many cars were recovered from you?
Three.
What of guns?
Three.
What informed your decision to go into crime when you had a vocation that could fetch you a living?
I was influenced by the bad friends I was moving with.
Will you encourage your son to engage in robbery?
God forbid! He won’t do it because it is not the kind of work one should pass on to another generation. It is not something that one can be proud of within the society. (I did what) I did out of ignorance, and I was always conscious of the fact that I could be arrested anytime by the police. I never did any charm, though Ahmed used to suggest it to me.
What advice do you have for those involved in robbery?
They should try and leave it because I know that they might have found it difficult to leave it if they are not caught.
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