Afeez Hanafi
Kidnappers, who disguised as policemen,
have left the family of a Lagos-based businessman, Mr. Basil Agha, in
misery after they abducted him.
It was learnt that Basil, who is a fuel
supplier, was kidnapped in his country house in Umuofor village in the
Orlu Local Government Area of Imo State.
He was said to have travelled home to
renovate the house ahead of the Yuletide when his family members in
Lagos would come home for the celebration.
SPLENSIZY Metro learnt that the 69-year-old was seeing off an electrician when the attackers stormed the compound and abducted him.
His son, Ikenna Agha, told our
correspondent that the kidnappers later contacted the family members and
demanded N50m ransom, adding that they eventually paid them a total sum
of N2.6m when efforts by the police to rescue him proved abortive.
Ikenna said, “He was kidnapped on
Friday, October 28, inside his compound around 1pm. The kidnappers told
him that they were from the State Criminal Investigation and
Intelligence Department and ordered him to follow them into a waiting
vehicle.
“I told my brother who broke the news to
me on the phone that we didn’t have any issue with anybody. On Sunday,
they called me and demanded N50m ransom. My relatives reported at the
Orlu Police Station and I also submitted a petition at the Federal SARS
in Adeniji Adele.
“Five policemen from the Federal SARS
followed me to Orlu. But for the six days that we spent in Owerri, the
kidnappers did not call me again. On November 9, we came back to Lagos
and they called again. I negotiated with them and we agreed on N2.5m.
They asked me to drop the money somewhere in Onitsha and promised to
release him the following day.
“After dropping the money, we waited
throughout the day, but he was not released. Two days after, they asked
for another N2m. We negotiated and they reduced it to N500,000. I said I
could only afford N100,000 and they agreed. They called me with my
father’s number. On November 14, I told my brother in Owerri to take the
money to where we dropped the N2.5m.
“Since they collected the N100,000, I
have not received any call from them. I have gone back to the Federal
SARS. They said they were communicating with the DPO, Orlu division.”
Ikenna called on the Inspector-General
of Police, Ibrahim Idris, and other security agents to come to the
family’s aid and rescue the businessman.
“I am totally confused now and so is
every member of the family. I don’t know whether my father is dead or
alive. We want the IG to intervene. Anybody with useful information
should help us,” he added.
A resident, who witnessed the incident,
Thomas Idochi, said he was surprised that what appeared like an arrest
to him turned out to be a kidnap.
He said, “I am an electrician. I came to
help him fix the wiring of the house on that day. When I was done, he
saw me off. As we were about to reach the gate, three men armed with
guns stormed the compound. They were in mufti. They identified
themselves as policemen from the SCIID and asked him (Basil) to follow
them.
“He asked them what his offence was. But
they insisted he would know when he got to their station. They dragged
him into the car.”
A police source at the Federal SARS told SPLENSIZY Metro that some arrests had been made by the police in Imo State with respect to the matter.
“We don’t want the complainant (Ikenna)
to spend unnecessarily. We are making progress on the matter and some
persons have been arrested. We have been liaising with the police in Imo
to see how we can succeed,” the source added.
The Imo State Police Public Relations
Officer, DSP Andrew Enwerem, said the police had yet to get any clue
about the victim’s whereabouts.
He said, “We will continue to
investigate to unravel those people behind the kidnap. If arrest has
been made, investigation has to follow. No information yet as to where
the man is. As soon as we get his location, we will go there and rescue
him.”
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