Driver Gives a Vivid Account of How Kidnapper’s Receive Ransom on His Boss Son
A prosecution witness, Mohammed Buhari, has told a Lagos High Court in Ikeja how he dropped ransom for alleged kidnappers at Ojuelegba Road after they called him.
In his testimony before Justice Adenike Coker, Buhari alleged that Lima Auwal, Abdullah Usman, and Seidu Abbas were involved in the kidnapping of his boss’s nine-year-old boy.
They are alleged to have kidnapped the boy in Mushin, Lagos State, at about 19:30 (7:30) hours on November 4, 2022, in the Ajayi Street area of Idi-Araba.
Due to this, the state government had arraigned the defendants on a two-count charge of kidnapping and conspiracy to kidnap.
Their crimes violate the Kidnapping Prohibition Law, No. 10 of the Lagos State Laws of 2017.
As the hearing resumed, the witness gave a vivid account of how he dropped the ransom inside the vulcanizer tyre by the roadside towards Ojuelegba, as instructed by the kidnapper.
The witness, who was led in evidence by the prosecution’s counsel, Ms Titi Adeyegbe, testified that he drove home his boss, the father of the kidnapped boy, Mr Aliu Abubakar, after closing work.
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According to him, they didn’t meet Abubakar’s wife and his boss’ brother, Ibrahim, at home. Upon returning to school on Friday, they were told they had searched for the boy.
He said he joined Ibrahim in searching for the boy, and added that they had to sleep on the street until the following morning searching for the boy.
“Me and Ibrahim went to the second street searching. We were on the streets overnight. The boy was nowhere to be found. My boss (Abubakar) went to report him to the police. So that second day, in the morning, I got a text message and I went to show my boss, Abubakar.
“The message was that, ‘your son is with us, we needed 3000 dollars and N200,000.00. I later got a call and the voice said, ‘Oga na we carry your son’. I asked if I could speak to the boy. He gave the phone to the boy and I asked him how he was. He responded fine.
So they didn’t call me again till Sunday Morning. They asked me if I was ready to get the boy, and they said they would tell me where to get They asked how much I got out of the money, I said N200,000.00 and they said it was too small. I beg them that there is no money. They said I must make it N700,000.
” He spoke to me in the Hausa language. I told him we both spoke Hausa, and he asked how much I got, and I said 400,000. So he said he would tell me where to get the boy and that I should follow their instructions. When I got the money, I put it inside black nylon. I got their call around 7 p.m. again that with Police officers that they would not call again.
” It was around 10 pm and they asked if I was ready to bring the money. I got to Yana’s bus stop on their instruction. He asked if I was with the police again. He said he had seen me and described the clothes I wore. I was told to go to the front of Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH). He told me to move towards Ojuelegba Road. He asked if you had seen a tyre placed on the roadside by Vulcanizer. He told me to put the money inside. He asked me to go left and I would get the boy.”
Buhari further said he looked up and down and he didn’t see the boy. Thereafter he passed out. He didn’t know what had happened to him. He only woke up in front of his house and saw people gathered. So later he was called to the police station.
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He said he remembered on the second day that the second defendant (Usman) was in Abubakar’s house, and asked him to show him the phone number they used in calling him but he refused.
When he was cross-examined by the defendant’s counsel, Ms Rukayat Owolabi, the witness insisted that the phone number used in calling him began with 08024 and that he couldn’t remember the total number. He insisted that he was a witness to the truth.
He also denied being arrested by the defendants. He said he had been working with the victim’s father for five years, and noted that his boss, Abubakar Seriki has many titles, is a popular person and a well-respected man in the community.
He said he only knew the money was N400,000 which he didn’t check. He confirmed that he used to see the third defendant in his boss’ house, but he never had any of him involved in any criminal act.
The trial Justice Coker therefore adjourned further hearings to May 8, 2024. Ordered that all parties involved should maintain peace in that community. “The case is in court. You must maintain peace.”
He ordered following the allegation by the second defendant’s lawyer that there had been mayhem in the area. The prosecution counsel also told the court that the nominal complainant had petitioned the police over his incessant attack on the community.
It would be recalled that at the last proceeding on February 7, 2024, the father of a kidnapped nine-year-old boy, recounted the ordeal his son went through. He said his life has not been normal since then as he was traumatized when he returned from the kidnappers’ den and he could not speak well.
He told the court that the police arrested them with the ransom they collected from his driver.
