A suspected internet fraudsters, popularly known as 419, Haruna Usman, has been kidnapped by his colleagues for under-declaring the proceeds of their crime.
Available information has it that whereas their victim paid N26,437,950, he declared only N2.2 million to his colleagues.
According to the information, the incident occurred in Orile Imo village in Obafemi Owode Local Government Area of Ogun State.
This then led Usman’s colleagues to arranged for his kidnap.
According to the spokesman of the Ogun State Police Command, Abimbola Oyeyemi, in a statement on Thursday, the intervention of the police on December 26, 2022 led to the arrest of four out of Usman’s six colleagues for his kidnapping.
They were made up of two females and two males.
Oyeyemi gave the names of those arrested as Agbe Simeon, male; Messiah Nicky, female; Oladapo Dolapo, male; and Yetunde Shonola, female.
He said they were arrested at Orile Imo following information received at Owode Egba Divisional Police Headquarters that Usman, who was abducted on December 22, 2022 is being held hostage somewhere in Orile Imo.
Upon the information, the Divisional Police Officer, Owode Egba Division, Popoola Olasunkanmi, a Chief Superintendent of Police, quickly mobilised his men and stormed the area.
Four amongst the abductors were apprehended while two others escaped.
Preliminary investigation revealed that the victim and the suspects belong to an internet fraudster syndicate and that they recently swindled somebody whose identity is not yet known of sum of N26,437,950, but Usman only declared N2.2 million to his other colleagues, claiming that the money has not been paid completely by their client.
This infuriated his colleagues who then lured him to an herbalist’s home at Orile Imo and held him hostage there since December 22, 2022, with a threat to kill him there if he refused to give them their complete share.
The Command’s Commissioner, CP Lanre Bankole, has directed that the suspects be transferred to the Anti-Kidnapping Unit of the State Criminal Investigation Department for further investigation and possible prosecution
