‘How we drugged our victims before kidnapping them’

Two members of a gang of kidnappers, Ahmed Hafeez and Muri Adeleye, have confessed to drugging their victims before abducting them.

The Lagos police command said it arrested the suspects at the weekend after they had abducted a 26-year-old lady, Adetola Adelani, a nursing mother, who was on her way to buy petrol in the Surulere area of Lagos.

Investigating detectives also said they have commenced an intensive manhunt for a third member of the gang who is on the run.

Hafeez, 41, and Adeleye, 29, who were arrested on May 29, 2018, at Mirage Hotel, Ikota, Lagos, told journalists they drugged Adelana with cocaine which they dissolved in a handkerchief before abducting her.

According to Hafeez, “It was one her (Adelana’s) friend, Jackie, who invited her to City Spice Hotel where she and I were drinking. On arrival, Jackie introduced her to me. Jackie then collected a pinch of cocaine from me and spread it on a handkerchief which she gave to our victim to sniff after convincing her it was good for her health as a nursing mother. After sniffing the substance from the handkerchief, the victim became weak and could not gather herself. In that state of stupor, we led her to another member of our gang, Adeleye.

“We afterwards took her to an UBA ATM gallery in Ikota where we made her to withdraw the sum of N126,000 from her husband’s account. After the transaction was completed we kept her in a room at City Spice Hotel, Ikota, for 24 hours before we later moved her to another place, Mirage Hotel, also in Ikota.

“The next day, May 1, 2018, we took her to another ATM in other to make her withdraw more money. But surprisingly, we discovered the account had been placed on lien. Because of this we disposed her of her phones. We kept her in our custody for two weeks hoping that the lien placed on the account would be lifted so that we can do further withdrawals. We eventually allowed her to go on May 15, 2018.”

The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Imohimi Edgal, said that the two suspects were arrested based on a complaint lodged at the command by one Abiola Adelani Afolabi of No. 4, Mosalewa Street, Surulere.

The police boss said, “Abiola told the AntiKidnapping Squad, State Criminal Investigations Department (SCID), Panti, that her daughter, Adetola Adelani, had left home on the said date at about 1:00 p.m. to buy fuel but did not return home. She said all efforts made to reach her on phone proved abortive as her phone was switched off. She suspected that her daughter must have been kidnapped by unknown persons as unauthorized withdrawals totalling the sum of N126,000 were made from her son-inlaw’s UBA account using his ATM which was in possession of the missing Adetola. She said that when her son-in-law received the alerts of the said withdrawal on his phone, he quickly went to the nearest bank where he placed the account on lien.”

It was while investigation was still on to locate the missing woman that she was released from captivity on May 15, 2018.

Recounting her ordeal to the police, she corroborated Hafeez’s statement that she received a call from her female friend, one Jackie, asking her to meet her at City Spice Hotel, Ikota.

She added she was abducted after inhaling a substance she later suspected was cocaine.

He said that concerted effort was being made to arrest other members of the gang who are now on the run.