On Wednesday, July 24, the Delta State Police Command, paraded four suspects arrested for working with kidnappers to collect ransom from kidnap victims.
Parading the suspects at the state police command in Asaba, the state capital, the Delta State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Bright Edafe, said the arrested suspects sent their account details to kidnappers and after the victims paid the ransom, the suspects deducted between 15% and 40% as their share and then sent the balance to the kidnappers.
The police spokesperson said, “They work in conspiracy with kidnappers. They are always in touch with kidnappers. Once they kidnap their victims and they are looking for where to send the ransom money to, they will contact this force man (pointing at one of the suspects) who contracts his friends to provide an account number where the ransom money will be sent to.
“After sending the money, they take their own commission which is between 15% and 40% and send back the balance to the kidnappers.”
The suspects are Chimerije Joshua Nwakpa, from Ebonyi State; Eze Levy Onyekachi, from Enugu State; Ezemma Maxwell Nnadozie, from Enugu State and Emmanuel Otubo, from Ebonyi State.
Interrogated by Edafe, Nwakpa said he was contacted by Nnadozie who communicated with the kidnappers to provide his account details and that ransoms were paid for three kidnap victims.
According to Nwakpa, the first ransom paid to his account was N3.6 million; second ransom was N4.3 million while the third ransom was N200,000.
He said that his share from the N3.6 million ransom was N530,000 which is 15% of the total amount.
He said after deducting his percentage, “I sent the balance to Maxwell who then sent it to them,” adding that he had known Nnadozie for about two years.
Asked if Maxwell told him that the money being sent to his account were ransoms from kidnap victims, Nwakpa said yes.
He said they used their shares of the ransoms to build a cryptocurrency website that they wished to use for internet fraud.
Asked how he got to know the kidnappers he worked with, Nnadozie said, “Ifesi (one of the kidnappers) and I were living in the same street at Oduke in Onitsha (Anambra State) when we’re small.
“Now, I don’t know where he is living but he contacted me in April to send him an account number where the ransom would be paid.”
He said that after deducting their own share, he would withdraw cash through POS and give it to the kidnappers.
The police spokesperson called on residents of Delta State to be bold to report any crime or suspicious activities in their areas to the police, whether before, during or after it has happened.
