Luck ran out on three suspected kidnappers on Monday when they were arrested by the police for allegedly abducting a hotel receptionist, Abidemi Omoniyi, 22, in the Egbatedo area of Lagos.
The suspects – Onwuka Makus, 71; Emeka Omenuko, 35; and Blessing Nwaeze, 29 – were said to have come from Ibadan, Oyo State, to perpetuate the crime in Lagos.
The victim, Omoniyi, said she was hurrying to work around 7 am when the suspects, who were in a cab, pulled over beside her.
She said she boarded the car without suspecting them.
She said,
“The driver asked where I was going to. I told him Pen- Cinema, Agege, and he charged me N100 for the fare. A woman sat beside the driver when I entered. After about three minutes, two other men entered and they started speaking in Igbo language.
“The driver asked the woman if she closed the boot of the vehicle very well; he got down to check. He returned and started accusing the woman that she had a lot of dollars in the car and she didn’t tell him.
“The driver asked her how she got the money and she said that she worked as a sexual worker at a Lagos hotel, but the driver said the money would be shared by everybody in the car. She said there was no problem.
“Upon hearing that, I told them that I wanted to get down, but they said I was not going anywhere and I would follow them to Ibadan. Immediately, the woman that sat in the front seat came to the back to hold me and I started screaming.
“The old man among them held my breast and said when we get to Ibadan they would cut off my two breasts. The driver took out a SIM card and one small phone and called a man informing him that they were on their way.”
She said one of the suspects brought out a red rope to tie her hands, adding that she was threatened with death.
She said a man who had been trailing the car on a motorcycle forced the driver to stop and confronted the assailants.
“But the lady among them said he should not mind me and that I was her sister. The man asked me if I knew them and I explained everything to him.
“While we were there, people started gathering and they took us to the Elere Police Station, where they were arrested,” she added.
