‘I paid N.1m to kidnappers to abduct my debtor’s daughter’

A 32-year-old Islamic cleric, Isah Idris, who was arrested over plot to kidnap the daughter of a Lagos-based businessman, said he paid the sum of N100,000 to a man based in Kaduna to help him abduct the girl. Idris said he also promised to pay the man, Bagudu Bello, an additional N400,000 after the job. […]

A 32-year-old Islamic cleric, Isah Idris, who was arrested over plot to kidnap the daughter of a Lagos-based businessman, said he paid the sum of N100,000 to a man based in Kaduna to help him abduct the girl.

Idris said he also promised to pay the man, Bagudu Bello, an additional N400,000 after the job.

He said the businessman, Alhaji Salisu Idris, had refused to pay him a debt.

The suspect claimed to have given Alhaj Idris the sum of N5 million to help him buy petroleum products he intended to sell. But rather than buy the products, Alhaji Idris converted the money to his personal use and rebuffed all efforts he made to recover it from him.

“Bello was to come from Kaduna to Lagos to carry out the abduction. Unfortunately I was arrested in the process,” he said.

The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Imohimi Edgal, paraded the suspect at the Command Headquarters, Ikeja yesterday.

He said on March 1, 2018, undercover operatives of the command on intelligence gathering met with one Alhaji Salisu Idris of Number 7b Ipaja Road, Lagos, and heard from him how some people were planning to kidnap his daughter.

Edgal said the Alhaji Idris mentioned Baguda Bello as the mercenary hired to execute the plot.

The police Commissioner said, “Based on his complaint, the said Bagudu Bello was arrested and he made a useful statement to the police.

“The reason he was hired was because he is an Islamic scholar, just like Isah Idris, who contracted him. By this reason, he would have unhindered access to the house of Alhaji Salisu Idris, who built a private mosque in his compound situated in Ipaja. All Isah Idris needed to do was to take Bello into Alhaji Salisu’s compound for a worship session at the mosque and therein point the girl out to Bello.”

Edgal said luck ran against Isah Idris when he told Bello of his intention to kidnap Alhaji Salisu Idris daughter. But Bello vowed not to be involved in the abduction of Alhaji’s daughter because Idris is his kinsman from the same town and had done many philanthropic projects in their home town.

Edgal said Bello then decided to work against Isah Idris and his collaborators.

A third suspect, Abubakar Ibrahim, escaped after he learnt that his collaborators had been arrested.

He said that all the suspects would soon be charged to court.