Suspected kidnappers arrested over the abduction of Mrs Olaide Busayo Adegoke, sister of former Power Minister Chief Adebayo Adelabu, and her twin sons have given accounts of how the operation was planned and executed in Ibadan, Oyo State.
The victims were seized on June 3 and rescued days later from a hideout at Lako community on Ayegun-Olomi Road, following directives from Inspector-General of Police Olatunji Rilwan Disu. Operatives from the Force Intelligence Department-Intelligence Response Team and Oyo State Police Command made the arrests.
Those held include the alleged gang leader Adewale Abolarinwa (a.k.a. Oloro), Segun Balogun (a.k.a. Alawaye), and Dare Oyedele (a.k.a. Solution).
Balogun, a commercial driver at Iwo Road Motor Park, said he had known Oloro for over a decade through the transport union. He claimed Oloro asked whether Adelabu’s mother was still alive, then asked to be shown where she lived. After scouting the location, Oloro allegedly said he was broke and planned to kidnap either the mother or a child from the family, and offered to pay Balogun to drive for the operation.
Balogun said Oloro called him a day before the attack to confirm it would happen. On June 3, four gang members travelled in the operational vehicle — three masked, while Balogun drove. He described how they trailed the victims’ car, forced it to stop, and bundled the woman and her twin sons into their vehicle.
Oyedele, an auto electrician known around Orita Challenge and Podo, allegedly handled surveillance. He said the gang began monitoring the family’s home, the children’s school and their vehicle from May 5, describing the school in intercepted messages as upscale and well-resourced.
Oyedele, 43, from Ishara Remo in Ogun State, said he had known Oloro for about a year, claiming Oloro was once an OPC member expelled over an earlier kidnapping case before relocating to Lagos. He said Oloro brought a Toyota Corolla containing two pump-action guns to his house on June 2. During the operation, he said three gang members wore masks while Balogun, who stayed in the car, did not. Oyedele said he was handed an axe while Oloro and another accomplice, Kelechi, carried the firearms, and that Oloro smashed the victims’ car window before the abduction.
Police said Balogun came under suspicion due to his ties to Oloro and was caught attempting to delete phone messages linked to an alleged gun purchase. His full involvement emerged after Oloro’s arrest.
During the rescue, some suspects were arrested while two others were neutralised. A search of Oyedele’s property allegedly turned up a pump-action gun, raising the total firearms recovered to three. Oloro was also found with several charms allegedly taken from his vehicle. He has reportedly refused to speak since being paraded by Commissioner of Police Olugbenga Ayodeji Abimbola.
Oloro was previously paraded in September 2022 over kidnapping and car-snatching allegations, confessed at the time, and was remanded in prison before securing bail under unclear circumstances.
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