The kidnapper, who have murdered the top management staff of Dangote Group, Bello Istifanus Gurama, claimed that there were cheated of N14.4 million. The suspects had claimed that an interview that Gurama, who acted as a liaison between the company and them, while negotiating for the release of four expatriates and a Nigerian was ongoing, had wanted to short-pay them.
The three suspect were identified as Abubakar Gide, Abdullahi Salihu and Babuga Adamu Abubakar Gide, were arrested in Ijebu Igbo, in Ogun State; Epe in Lagos State and Ajase, Ipo Forest in Kwara State by operatives of the Inspector General of Police Special Intelligence Response Team, IRT, led by CSP Abba Kayri, while two AK-47 rifles and rounds of ammunition were recovered from them. Meanwhile, the suspects stated that one of the wives of the expatriates who was in their custody, informed them that the company had agreed to pay a ransom of N20 million, Gurama, who was negotiating the ransom, insisted that the company only had N5.6 million for them.
This had made the kidnappers very angry, so they lured the negotiator to their den and killed him, instead of the expatriates. One of the suspects, Abuldlahi Sani, disclosed that it was one of his colleagues, Babuga Adamu, who was also a herdsman that organised the operation. He said Babuga reared his cattle around Eyin Osun village in Ijebu-Igbo, where the Dangote’s site was located, adding that he was the one who called him and eight others for the operation.
After we have kidnapped the white men working at Dangote’s site, they gave us numbers to reach their wives and their company representative. We called their wives and the company and made a demand of N30 million ransom. “They told us that they will get back to us. Bello (Gurama) called us the next day and told us that the company was ready to pay us N3 million and if we don’t accept, we should kill the white men. The next day, we called the company representative and he refused to pick his calls and we also called the wives of the white men and their lines were all switched off.
We tried calling but no respond for two days. On the third day, the man we killed picked his call and told us that the company was ready to pay N5 million. We told him that we will accept N10 million. He called back and said the company had decided to increase our money to N5.6 million. While we were still negotiating, one of the white men asked us to call his wife and luckily her line went through. She told her husband that Dangote asked that we should be paid N20 million, but that the man negotiating with us asked them to switch off their phones so that we won't be able to reach them.
The three suspect were identified as Abubakar Gide, Abdullahi Salihu and Babuga Adamu Abubakar Gide, were arrested in Ijebu Igbo, in Ogun State; Epe in Lagos State and Ajase, Ipo Forest in Kwara State by operatives of the Inspector General of Police Special Intelligence Response Team, IRT, led by CSP Abba Kayri, while two AK-47 rifles and rounds of ammunition were recovered from them. Meanwhile, the suspects stated that one of the wives of the expatriates who was in their custody, informed them that the company had agreed to pay a ransom of N20 million, Gurama, who was negotiating the ransom, insisted that the company only had N5.6 million for them.
This had made the kidnappers very angry, so they lured the negotiator to their den and killed him, instead of the expatriates. One of the suspects, Abuldlahi Sani, disclosed that it was one of his colleagues, Babuga Adamu, who was also a herdsman that organised the operation. He said Babuga reared his cattle around Eyin Osun village in Ijebu-Igbo, where the Dangote’s site was located, adding that he was the one who called him and eight others for the operation.
After we have kidnapped the white men working at Dangote’s site, they gave us numbers to reach their wives and their company representative. We called their wives and the company and made a demand of N30 million ransom. “They told us that they will get back to us. Bello (Gurama) called us the next day and told us that the company was ready to pay us N3 million and if we don’t accept, we should kill the white men. The next day, we called the company representative and he refused to pick his calls and we also called the wives of the white men and their lines were all switched off.
We tried calling but no respond for two days. On the third day, the man we killed picked his call and told us that the company was ready to pay N5 million. We told him that we will accept N10 million. He called back and said the company had decided to increase our money to N5.6 million. While we were still negotiating, one of the white men asked us to call his wife and luckily her line went through. She told her husband that Dangote asked that we should be paid N20 million, but that the man negotiating with us asked them to switch off their phones so that we won't be able to reach them.
At that point, we became angry and decided to lure the man (Gurama) to our camp. We called the man and told him that we have accepted the offer and we told him where to bring the money. “When he brought the money, we took him to the camp where we kept the white men. We told him that we will not kill the white men, but will kill him if he does not release the balance of the N20 million Dangote asked him to give to us.
But he refused, he also switched off his phone and refused to contact his company or his family. For three days, we begged him to contact his family and he still refused. When we became tired and were ready to leave the camp, our leaders Alti, Mudani and Kabiru, took him to Apoje River, shot him and dumped him in the river. After that we shared the money and I got N150,000. I used part of the money to furnish my house in Ibeju Lekki, Lagos, and spent the rest on food for my family.