An Imam, Bashir Owolabiand three others have been apprehended for abducting and burning man alive in Osun
The victim identified as Victor Akinbile was kidnapped and set ablaze in Ikirun, the headquarters of Ifelodun Local Government Area of Osun State even after he released a ransom of N3 million
The State Commissioner of Police, Fimihan Adeoye, has now paraded the suspects Rafiu Ahmed, Sunday Kayode, Bashir Owolabi, and Rasheed Waheed before newsmen, and explained that Akinbile had come to the state from Lagos to visit his grandmother on Tuesday, November 27th before he met with the men of the underworld.
It was learnt that the Imam who is also a security guard, duly informed his accomplices of Akinbile’s presence as the deceased had put up in a house close to the compound where Owolabi guards.
The men soon abducted him and forced him to transfer N3m to an account operated by one of them. After collecting the money, the suspects tucked Akinbile into the booth of his vehicle, drove to a secluded area and then set the car on fire.
Reacting to the unfortunate incident, the police boss said;
“We were alerted by some friends of Akinbile, who could no longer reach him after 10.30pm on Monday, November 26, 2018. They later discovered that few hours before he could no longer be reached, the late Akinbile had transferred N3m to a UBA account of someone not known to them. Immediately we received that complaint, we set out to work. The OC (officer in charge) anti-kidnapping and others moved to Lagos and one of the suspects, Rafiu Ahmed, was arrested in Ikorodu area of Lagos.
“It was Rafiu Ahmed who led them to arrest others involved in the crime. The deceased was killed in a gruesome way. We will not rest in our resolve to rid the state of crime. It is our mandate and we shall remain steadfast.”
Responding to questions from journalists, Ahmed said he was told that Akinbile would be arriving the house by Owolabi, who was assisting him to prepare charms.
He said;
“I was a scrap dealer. I was not into stealing before. On November 26, Baba Owolabi called me to come and rob a man, who was passing the night in a compound beside my house. Baba is my spiritual father. He used to make charms for me. I didn’t go to the house alone. I called Kayode and Waheed, who are my friends. We attacked the man around 1am. I removed the burglar deterrent bars on the window with a big stick and we gained access into the room where he was sleeping. The man did not struggle with us at all; we collected the N25,000 he had on him. We demanded more money and he transferred N3m out of the N5m he claimed was in his account to my account. I wanted us to leave the man, but Waheed insisted that we must not leave him alive. We put him inside the booth of his car and drove him to Ikirun Road. We didn’t have any weapon. I looked into the booth of his vehicle and I saw many cardboards. We ordered him back into the booth and I collected a lighter from Waheed and set the vehicle ablaze.”
The muslim cleric however denied any involvement in the crime. The police says the suspects would be arraigned in court once investigation into the matter has been concluded.
