How Mikel’s father was abducted -Police Commissioner

Posted by admin Headlines, Nigerian Police Wednesday, August 24th, 2011

PLATEAU State Commissioner of Police, Mr Emmanuel Dipo Ayeni, has disclosed that two men of the Military Special Task Force (STF) deployed in the state to maintain peace were arrested in connection with the abduction of Pa Michael Obi along with seven others.

The state commissioner of police, who stated this while handing over Pa Obi to his family in Jos on Tuesday, said the soldiers attached to the STF are Sergeant Victor Essien 2BN 96NA/43/11231; Private Jaduwa Thloma 2BN 03NA/54/5527, along with Ifeanyi Hyacinth, Ndubuisi Friday, Basil Chukwuma, Nkechi Osai Sule Ibrahim and Hajiya Awa Abubakar.

Narrating how the man was kidnapped, Mr Ayeni said Pa Obi was on his way home on the day he was kidnapped and sandwiched in a military patrol van marked STF and was told that their commander wanted to see him.

According to him, the old man was badly beaten to the point of death and could not stand on his feet again. They asked him twice whether he could give them N10 million and he said yes.

He said, thereafter, he was taken from the military vehicle into a flashy vehicle that came there to join them at the unknown destination, adding that he was sandwiched in the midst of four persons, two in the front and two at the back seat. From there, he was driven to Kano at an unimaginable speed with his head forced down throughout the journey.

The commissioner said on getting to Kano, the man was drugged and lost consciousness, adding that after waking up, one Mr Ifeanyi Hyacinth asked him to give them $4 billion, which they called a chicken change to Mikel Obi and his club, Chelsea.

Ayeni said the journey to Obi’s rescue started on Monday, when police detectives, led by Ochowechi Salifu from Plateau State police command and complemented by detectives from State Crime Investigation Department, Kano, stormed the house at Kabuga, BUK Road, Kano, where Michael Obi was being kept by his kidnappers.

Narrating his ordeal, Pa Obi, who said he was drugged and mercilessly beaten by the kidnappers, commended the police for the steps taken to rescue him, adding that the way and manner he was rescued had changed his view about the police.

Reacting to the development, the state government viewed the act as irresponsible, adding that the involvement of the men of STF in the act had further strengthened government position on the operation of the STF in the state.

The Special Adviser to the Governor on Media, Mr Ayuba Pam, said there was the need to review the operation of the STF to meet the need of the state, adding that involvement of soldiers in a series of unholy act in the state was highly condemnable.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian Army authorities have arrested two soldiers over the kidnap of father of the Mikel Obi, who was kidnapped last week in Jos.

Brigadier-General R.I.D. Isa, who announced this in Abuja, on Tuesday, while briefing newsmen, said the Army authorities viewed the allegation seriously, especially the mention of soldiers of the Special Task Force, Jos, as suspects by the victim.

According to him, this brought to the fore the fact that the army itself was not insulated from the kind of criminal activities that they saw and heard about in the larger society.

The army spokesman said the sergeant and the lance corporal were arrested midnight on Monday, while the military police had commenced investigations to verify the allegation.

He announced that the arrest of the two soldiers and the investigations would unravel the three other soldiers that kidnapped him.

Brigadier-General Isa said the Army headquarters was disturbed that criminal elements had found their way into the army and would not hesitate to deal with any soldier who would want to throw away the core ethics of the profession by engaging in such criminal activities as kidnapping, robbery and the like.

As part of the transformation agenda, the spokesman said the army, among other things, had embarked on fingerprinting exercise in a DNA/Biometric Data Bank programme to enhance general administration.

Also, he announced that the 2011 Army recruitment that had just been conducted would be subjected to police scrutiny, including use of traditional rulers at the lowest levels of society before the candidates were invited for training.

He assured Nigerians that the outcome of these investigations would be made public as soon as the military police concluded their investigations.

In another development, the Kano State police command had moved Mr Obi to Jos for a reunion with his family, just as the police also transferred the five suspects to Jos, where the crime was committed.

The state Commissioner of Police, Mr Ibrahim Idris, said Mikel’s father, alongside the suspects, departed Kano at about 5.00 a.m on Tuesday for Jos, amidst water-tight security provided by the Kano State police command.

According to him, “they left this morning to Jos at about 5.00 a.m. Elder Obi is not a suspect but a victim and so he is at liberty to be reunited with his family.”

-Tribunewp_posts