$21 million ransom: Lagos woman held for 3 days as Ondo kidnapping gang demands cash, turkey and schnapps

For three days, an unidentified Lagos businesswoman reportedly lived in a bush at the mercy of kidnappers after she was kidnapped from her home in Ijedodo, Lagos State.

His freedom reportedly came when he allegedly paid the sum of $21 million in ransom, a bottle of Eagle Schnapps, a power bank and a kilogram of frozen turkey.

The ordeal of the victim has now exposed an alleged kidnapping operation across the state, following the arrest of three suspected syndicate members by operatives of the Anti-Kidnapping Unit of the Lagos State Police Command.

The suspects were identified as Semi Buawe, 35; Bamure Telemowei and Oluwatomi Obosi, 37, while the police are also looking for the alleged leader of the gang, identified simply as ID.

Police sources on Friday revealed that the suspects were based in Agadagba, Ese-Odo Local Government Area of ​​Ondo State, but allegedly traveled to Lagos to kidnap residents before returning to Ondo after collecting the ransom.

Buawe, a sawmiller, reportedly confessed to participating in the April operation, claiming that the identity convinced him to join because of his knowledge of Ijedodo, having previously lived in Lagos.

Buawe revealed that the gang had no specific victim in mind when they arrived in Lagos, adding that while scouting the area, ID reportedly spotted a beautiful duplex and concluded that its owner must be rich.

Buawe reportedly told investigators that the woman refused to eat food for two days and on the third day she only ate cookies.

When the gang’s food supplies ran out, they allegedly used his phone to transfer N150,000 to a PoS operator around Ijedodo before withdrawing the money.

He said the victim’s family initially offered $16 million, but the ID rejected the offer before finally accepting $21 million.

Buawe also said he received $1.5 million and took one of the victim’s two phones.

Obosi reportedly said he joined the gang because he needed money to get married, claiming that ID, who was married to his girlfriend’s sister, recruited him because he had been living in Lagos and translated conversations into Yoruba during operations.

He said he received $2.5 million.

Buawe also reportedly admitted to having been involved in kidnappings since 2010, particularly in Edo State, but said he decided to resign before the ID convinced him to participate in the latest operation.

Lagos police spokesperson SP Abimbola Adebisi confirmed the arrests and said officers were following other members of the syndicate.