Saturday 7 September 2013

Family of slain hostage seeks justice

The family of a beer distributor, Mr. Idowu Obembe, who was abducted in Ilesa by some
hoodlums and eventually killed in his captors’ den, have demanded justice. Obembe, a 62-year-old graduate of Architecture who was one of the largest beer distributors in Osun State was kidnapped on August 5, 2012 in front of one of his depots at night. His abductors contacted the family and demanded N5 million ransom, which was paid even as the family also paid the captors an addition N3m ransom, which they later demanded. Obembe was, however, was eventually killed by his captors. Speaking with Saturday PUNCH in Ilesa on Thursday, one of the children of the deceased, Kunle, said that the fear of the family was confirmed when the police discovered the corpse of his father. He insisted that justice must be done in the matter. The two wives of the deceased, Mrs. Bamidele Obembe and Mrs. Yetunde Obembe, also demanded justice in the case. Kunle said, “The kidnappers contacted the family and demanded N50m ransom; we negotiated and arrived at N5m and we paid. Despite the payment of ransom to the gang twice, they went ahead and killed him. I asked Ifeoluwa, one of those arrested for his kidnap and killing; the guy said that they abducted him for ransom but I don’t believe this. “If they kidnapped him for ransom why did they kill him after we paid N8m? The first time we dropped N5 million ransom at a spot along Ilesa- Ife Expressway. We went with some security men but the kidnapper who spoke with us claimed that he didn’t pick the money. “We arranged and paid the second ransom. We dropped the money somewhere around Iloko; that was N3m. But they still killed him. It is sad and we want the police to get to the root of the matter, justice must be done. Although that would not bring him back to life but it would assuage the feeling of the family.” Kunle, a graduate of Computer Engineering,
said that the suspects had not revealed why they killed his father, suspecting they might have been sent to terminate his life. Kunle hailed the police for the discovered of his father’s corpse, saying that the family would deliberate on how to give him a befitting burial. Kunle stated that Ahmed, one of the suspected kidnappers, confessed to be the one who took the N5 million ransom when he was arrested by the police. The Osun State Police Public Relations Officer, Mrs. Sade Odoro, confirmed the incident, saying investigation was afoot.

No comments:

Post a Comment