allAfrica.com: Nigeria: Driver's Plot With 'Militants' to Abduct Boss' Children for N15m Fails (Page 1 of 2)

Rivers State Police foil plot by a driver to earn money from the abduction of the children of his boss for ransom by 'militants'

FOR some people, it may be hard to believe but it happened. And the incident is a lesson to all: Be wary of domestic aides, neighbours and others around you, particularly if you reside in states like Rivers, Bayelsa and Delta where hostage taking has become a thriving business.

Two Wednesdays ago, Rivers State commissioner of police, Mr. Felix Ogbaudu, beaming with smiles sauntered into the conference room of the Police Headquarters on Moscow Road. He was flanked by two other top officers of his Command. I can't recall when last I saw that degree of excitement on the face of the police boss.

The children

After taking his seat, he cleared his throat and announced that he was set for the press briefing. He started: "Today seems to be my happiest day as commissioner of police". Certainly, from the opening, he did not refer to the day as his happiest as police boss in Rivers State but as commissioner of police (CP). This includes his years as CP Anambra that discovered Okija shrine, CP Oyo that was able to contain political elements like Baba Adedibu, etc.

But why should that day be very special in his life. His words: "I am very pleased to present to you Mr. Alex Elenwon, a driver of Adebiregbe. Adebiregbe retired from Agip as operations manager three years ago. Alex takes his children to school. The driver made contact with some militants to kidnap Adebiregbe's children. Unfortunately for him the contact he made was one of my intelligence men (a repentant militant) who later alerted the police.

We arranged for my men to pose as the militants, they got to the driver, agreed on fifteen million naira and the sharing ratio. The driver smoked Indian hemp with my operatives and told them he uses a black BMW to carry the children to school. He said if the deal sails through he would bring many other drivers that would be interested.

"The BMW has a central locking system but Alex said it would not be activated that day he would be taking the children to school. My operatives pretended to be the militants that morning and kidnapped the children. The most painful part of the story is that one of the children has sentimental attachment to Alex. He told my boys that many other drivers would submit their bosses children if the deal succeeds.

"Ãè am happy that we foiled the kidnap attempt. I am sad that incidents of kidnap have insider factor. This Alex is married with children. I asked him how he would feel if his children are kidnapped. You can imagine the trauma parents are subjected to by people like Alex Elenwo who are not bothered by the negative report the state gets

"Alex is Ikwerre by tribe, from Rumudogu in Emohua Local Government. He is thirty four years".

When he concluded his speech, he asked journalists to speak with parents of the children and the driver who were all in the conference room. As usual, reporters scampered for vantage positions to hear Adebirigbe as he responded to questions.

According to Adebirigbe, who had the youngest of the children, Bimbola, two years, on his lap, he was not aware of the plot to kidnap his lovely children. He said minutes after the driver left the house with the kids, he (driver) came back and started wailing from a distance of about a hundred meters away from the gate. And when he got into the compound he fell on the ground and was rolling from one end to the other.

"Even after we all ran to him, he still did not say anything immediately. All he was doing was shouting the children's names. But after sometime he said they had been kidnapped". The next thing we did was to contact the police and they later invited us to their headquarters on Moscow Road.

He said Alex is on a salary of twenty four thousand naira monthly and had been in his employ for two years.

According to him, he was recommended to him by a private security firm. And all the while the driver was with him he was seen as a big brother by his children. Adebiregbe said Alex was always traveling with him, to his village in Ife, Osun State. They all took him as a member of the family. He said if anybody had told him Alex could nurse such evil against his home he would never had believed the person.

"I retired from Agip three years ago. I had to employ this driver based on recommendation of a private security company. I have been in Rivers State since 1984, own a house here because I see the place as my home. The driver has been with me since two years. I take him to Ife, my village in Osun State. So he is like one of my family members. When he came back after the incident, he started shouting one kilometer to the house. And when he got to the compound he fell down and was rolling and shouting"

Narrating how they were kidnapped around Agip junction, the eldest child, Ayodele, seven years, said while they were on their way to school, a car suddenly overtook theirs and ordered them to stop and at the same time firing several volleys of shots into the air. He said he was able to jump out of their car. But one of them held him and took him to their own vehicle. Other members of the group went for his two sisters, Princess, (seven), and Bimbola (two) after which they fled with them to the Police Headquarters.

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