Abraham Jatto 30 years old man from Edo State and 29-year-old Idowu Mafe from Ogun State were both arrested by officers of the State Police Command,for kidnapping students of the Federal University of Technology, Minna, Niger state
Speaking to journalists when they were paraded at the Force Headquarters in Minna, Mafe, who claimed to be a graduate of the University of Ilorin, expressed regrets over his involvement in crime.
He said, “When the issue of getting a job in Dubai came up, my parents could not afford the N750,000 being demanded and Abraham suggested kidnapping which led us into this predicament.
“I have dragged my good family name in the mud; I pray my parents forgive me.”
Similarly, Jatto admitted that he decided to go into kidnapping to raise money for a trip to Dubai to secure a job.
He explained that he rented a two-bedroomed apartment at the back of the Niger State Trade Fair complex where he kept his victims.
“I was a successful businessman who never depended on people for assistance; I only dreamed of going to Dubai.
“In fact, I cannot explain how I started kidnapping people,” Jatto said.
Meanwhile, the Niger State police spokesman, Bala Elkana, said the suspects have been on the police wanted list for some time before they were eventually apprehended.
He said the suspects, who were said to have successfully abducted three students, had been terrorising the neighbourhood for some time, adding that the were arrested at their hideout in the Sauka Kahuta area of Minna by the command’s Special Anti-kidnapping Squad.
The police spokesman confirmed that a Honda Accord car with an Abuja registration number, ABJ 583 AE, was recovered from the suspects, adding that investigation was ongoing.
He said they were still on the trail of two other members of the gang, who were in the habit of dispossessing residents of their valuables such as laptops, handsets, jewelry and money, besides collecting huge ransoms.
One of the victims, Esther Okwe, 24, a 500-level student of Estate Management, FUT, reportedly paid N500,000 to regain her freedom from the abductors. The ransom, it was gathered, was paid by her parents.
Other kidnap victims were identified as Agbo Sylvanus, 24, of the Department of Mathematics and Peter Adown, 21, of the Department of Microbiology of the same institution.
