A 27-year-old suspected kidnapper, Emmanuel Okemayin, has confessed that he formed a kidnapping gang in a bid to raise money to travel abroad and further his education, following the death of his father.
Okemayin was arrested by operatives of the Federal Special Anti-Robbery (SARS), Lagos State Police Command, Ikeja, Lagos, following a botched kidnap attempt.
“I was arrested for planning the kidnap of my employer’s wife which failed. I had good grades in West Africa School Certificate- Government, A1; Economics A1; Biology, A1; Geography, P7; Literature in English, P7 and Chemistry, P7. I can’t remember what I got in English language and Mathematics. I am qualified to go to university,’’Okemayin said.
‘’My financial problem started when I went to Yaba College of Technology, Lagos, and they told me to pay N120,000 for registration, but I had no kobo on me.
‘’They even told me to pay in bits by paying only a sum of N50,000 in subsequent payment, yet I knew that I still could not afford it. When I calculated the feeding money and other expenses I decided call it quit.
‘’I started searching for jobs and found one in a hotel, on Iju Road, Agege, Lagos, on a monthly salary of N8,000. I worked there for two years and later travelled to Benin, Edo State, and stayed there for two years. I returned to Lagos in 2014.
‘’Having resigned from hotel work I decided to look for another job upon my return from Benin, Edo State. Luckily, I got a job as a driver with a sachet water production company. My salary was N25,000. I was able to rent a one room apartment in Agege on a monthly rent of N3, 000 and N71,000 per annum.’’
The suspect said he later saved some money to procure an international passport and spent about N200,000 to get a visa.
His problem however started when he could not raise money to take care of his flight ticket.
Frustrated, she resigned from the company and got another job a driver through one of his friends, Ejike.
‘’Ejike assisted me to secure a job. I was driving a married woman who has an office in CMS, Lagos, on a monthly salary of N40,000, without no allowance of any kind.
‘’After driving the woman for few weeks, I found out that her character was too bad and the way she addressed people was dehumanising. When I narrated my ordeal to a colleagues of mine called Austin, he advised me to be patient since I have not worked up to a month.
‘’The next day, I took her to a native doctor and she was behaving in a way that made me to see her as a heartless person. When I narrated my experience to Austin he reasoned with me. We planned to arrange somebody to attack us, when madam would be carrying huge sum of money.
‘’ I planned with one T- boy, who unfortunately sabotaged us by informing operatives of FSARS and we were arrested before we could carry out our operation.’’
In his confession, Okemayin’s accomplice, Austin Anyia, 30, who was a driver to the victim’s husband said: “I am from Akokwa in Ideato North Local Government Area of Imo State. When Emma (Okemayin) told me that the woman was rude, I advised him to take it easy but when the woman became rude I decided to join him in teaching the woman a lesson. But the SARS operatives were smarter than us, hence, Emma(Okemayin) and I were arrested when we were about to carry out our plan with one T –boy. I regret following Emma(Okemayin) to plan this attack on madam. I thank God SARS operatives stopped us. Tell her to forgive us.’’