Anisulowo’s kidnappers threatened to abduct me – Ogun CP

Ogun State Commissioner of Police, Abdulmajid Ali

The Ogun State Commissioner of Police, Abdulmajid Ali, has said the kidnappers of a former Minister of State for Education and former senator, Iyabo Anisulowo, threatened to abduct him if he did not stop trailing them.

Ali said the kidnappers, who constantly communicated with him on the telephone, also threatened to abduct the Ogun State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun.

The CP said this during his official visit to The Punch Place, Magboro, Ogun State, on Thursday.

Anisulowo, who represented Ogun West Senatorial District between 2003 and 2007, had been kidnapped last week Wednesday at Sawonjo area in the Yewa North Local Government Area of the state.

After six days, she was rescued on Tuesday around 10pm in Gbegbinlayo in the Abeokuta North Local Government Area of the state.

The CP said on Thursday that the mastermind of Anisulowo’s kidnap had been arrested in a hotel he used as a hideout.

He said, “When this incident occurred, the kidnappers called the governor and sent him text messages many times. They wanted to put pressure on him so that they could collect the ransom from him.

“But their pressure amounted to nothing as no ransom was paid. At a time, they threatened they were going to kill her. They also said they would kidnap the commissioner of police. They said they would kidnap the governor. I told them it was okay.

“It was six days of mental agony. The Inspector-General of Police believes in intelligence-led investigation and that was what we did during the incident. He sent all his intelligence teams to Ogun and there was helicopter surveillance. We monitored the kidnappers down to Okeho, Oyo State, and then to Jabata forest.

“The mastermind of the abduction was arrested in a hotel. His plan was to go to Dubai. He has a lot of money in his bank account from several operations.”

On the activities of vandals in Arepo and Ibafo areas, the CP said vandalism had been successful in the communities because of connivance of some residents and security officials.

He said, “Arepo is actually a creek area and the Federal Government is firmly on the ground. Vandalisation of pipelines is always done with the knowledge of the community and security agencies. Thus, most of the vandals have these connections. But the IG has ordered the arrests and removal of those security officials. When they come across our policemen, they know there is no mercy.”

The CP later proceeded to the Ibafo Police Division where he inaugurated a new office complex built by the Divisional Police Officer, CSP Lawal Issah.