I GAVE KIDNAPPERS INFORMATION ON OKONJO-IWEALA’S MOTHER –PALACE SERVANT
A
former servant at the palace of the traditional ruler of Ogwashi-Uku, Delta
State, where the mother of the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala,
was kidnapped has told PUNCH
Metro that he gave the
kidnappers the necessary information for the job.
The suspect, Chiejine Onochie, said although the kidnappers
collected N13m as ransom before the 83-year-old Prof. Kamene Okonjo was
released last December, he was not given any money and therefore, was not
culpable.
He said, “I’m 32 years old and I worked in the palace from 2007
to 2012 after which I left because the pay was too little. A friend of mine
approached me and told me that I could make a lot of money if I gave kidnappers
information on how to get into the palace.
“However, after the operation, I did not get a dime. It was
later that I learnt that they had collected N13m as ransom. I felt cheated and
I left everything to God. I cannot be held for the crime because when police
started arresting people, I went to report at the station voluntarily, I was
not dragged to the station.”
Another suspect, Jideofor Ogbue, aka Marvelous, who claimed to be
the leader of the gang, said after gaining entrance into the palace, he and his
gang members did not force Okonjo out of the palace but she followed them
willingly after they had told her that they were sent by President Goodluck
Jonathan.
The 22-year-old said, “It was my friend, Ifeanyi, that informed
me about the operation. On the day of the kidnap, we had no difficulty because
Onochie had told us that the security around the palace was lax. Although 12 of
us were involved in the operation, only eight actually went to the palace.
“We went with three AK47 rifles and a pump-action rifle. When
the woman (Okonjo) saw us, she asked who we were and we told her that President
Goodluck Jonathan sent us from Abuja to arrest her because her daughter (Ngozi
Okonjo-Iweala) had embezzled public funds.
“We took her to Kwale and her family paid us N13m as ransom.
They packaged the money in polythene bags and dropped it around an expressway
in Benin. My share was N2m.”
Chukwuma Okoh, a suspect who claimed to be a graduate of
Accounting and Finance from Ambrose Alli University, said he joined the gang
because of unemployment. He said he was not given any money after the
operation.
He said, “I’m 31 years old and I graduated in 2007. Since then,
it has been hard to get a decent job. It was Onochie that brought the idea of
kidnapping Okonjo-Iweala’s mother.
“However, as God is my witness, I did not receive a dime from
the gang after the operation.”
The Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Command, Umar Manko,
identified other members of the gang as Michael Ojeabulu, Endurance Oke,
Ibrahim Abubakar, Buhari Hamadora and Hassan Oseni.
Manko, while parading the suspects, said the suspects were
arrested in different states comprising Edo, Enugu, Delta and Anambra.
The police boss said contrary to reports, kidnapping was not on
the rise in Lagos.
He said, “Marvelous was arrested in Port Harcourt after he had
perfected plans to kidnap the Commissioner of Commerce in Anambra State.
“As you can see, these kidnappers do not operate in Lagos State,
they just come and go. You therefore cannot say kidnapping is on the rise in
Lagos.”
… gang kills 72-year-old woman after collecting ransom
Meanwhile, the same gang of kidnappers also confessed to killing
a 72-year-old woman, Regina Obi, after collecting a ransom of N2m from her
family.
The suspects told PUNCH Metro that Obi was killed because one of
their gang members was killed during a gun duel with the police some days
earlier.
Onochie said, “After the first operation in which I was not
paid, they approached me again for another operation and told me that they
would pay me this time around. They said they needed information about the
family of Obi, who owns a big hotel in Delta State.
“I traced the residence of their mother and told them how they
could kidnap her. She sells land so I told the gang to tell her that they had a
good deal and when she follows them to conclude transactions, they should
kidnap her.”
Marvelous said he was not around on the day Obi was killed. He
however said it was another gang member, Peter, that pulled the trigger.
“We demanded N2m from the family and they paid immediately.
However, because Peter’s brother had been killed during a police raid some days
ago, he took the anger out on the old lady and killed her. I did not kill
anybody; I’m a kidnapper, not a murderer,” he said.
Source: Punch
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