The Ogun State Police Command has made a significant breakthrough in the war against kidnapping in the state, tracing a rising wave of abductions to a Fulani community in Ijebu Ode, leading to the arrest of the settlement’s leader and one of his sons.
A 67-year-old man, Abdullahi Muhammadu, leader of the Fulani community in Ijebu Ode, Ogun State, was recently arrested by operatives of the Anti-Kidnapping Unit of the Ogun State Police Command after one of the bags used to deliver ransom money was reportedly recovered from his kitchen.
Muhammadu admitted to investigators that he knew his son, Bala Muhammadu, was involved in kidnapping, though he insisted he had no personal involvement in the criminal activities. He also admitted to taking Bala to hospital for treatment for one month after his release from a correctional centre, where the younger man had served a five-year jail term for kidnapping.
The prime suspect, Bala, and two of his brothers were tipped off about the presence of security operatives around their family compound and escaped into the bush. A police source said: “It is not only Bala who is involved. There is also Ndaji and another person, and we are on their trail. There was an upsurge in kidnapping activities in the area after Bala was released from prison.”
The arrest follows a pattern of alarming kidnapping incidents across Ogun State in recent months. Five rescued Ogun students, who were abducted and held for ransom, recounted that their captors were Fulani men who appeared to have deep knowledge of the local community and its environs. One victim described a near-fatal moment when a fellow captive addressed the kidnappers by their ethnic identity — causing the armed men to point a gun at him.
Security agencies have intensified forest-combing operations within identified flashpoints, leading to the neutralisation of some suspected kidnappers, the arrest of others, and the rescue of kidnapped victims held within forest corridors, with particular attention being paid to border communities, isolated settlements, and suspected infiltration routes between Ogun and neighbouring states.
The Ogun State Police Command spokesperson confirmed that the command has continued to tighten the state’s security architecture through coordinated policing strategies, enhanced surveillance, aggressive patrols, and sustained intelligence gathering. CNN
Residents across Ogun communities have continued to live in fear, with calls growing louder for authorities to take bolder and more decisive action to rid the state of kidnapping gangs exploiting its forests and border communities.
CDA News Nigeria will monitor further developments in this security situation.
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