The need to conduct background checks on domestic staff came to the fore again after police in Lagos foiled plan by a sacked driver to have his former boss, a female Customs boss and her family, kidnapped.
Police spokesman, CSP Chike Oti, narrated the chain of events which culminated in the arrest of two members of the kidnap syndicate, in a statement sent to NewsmakersNG today.
The statement by Oti reads: “An attempt to kidnap a Deputy Comptroller of Customs, her younger brother and her son was yesterday, 16/06/2018, thwarted by police detectives attached to Area-D-Command, Mushin, Lagos.
“Acting on the directive of the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, CP Imohimi Edgal, the Area D Commander quickly assembled a decoy team which played along with a caller who had been calling Barrister Yisa Theophilus, the younger brother of the female officer.
“The police team ran a quick check on the caller based on available information and came to conclusion that he was upto something sinister.
“The team found out that aside being a notorious criminal in the area, the caller, later discovered to be one Yomi Odudare, was into land selling business (omonile). So the detectives called him to meet with them for a land deal and he agreed.
“Yesterday, 16/06/18, being the day they agreed to meet, the detectives went along with the younger brother of the female officer Yisa Theophilus whom he had been calling frequently. They met the suspect at a project site in Ajah, Lagos, called Fara-park and he was promptly arrested.
“During a brief interrogation at the scene of arrest, the suspect confessed that he has never met the lawyer nor any member of his family. He however said that the idea to kidnap Bar Yisa, his sister and her son came from one
Olugbenga Kehinde Ojo, a former Driver to the Deputy Comptroller’s uncle. He added that the idea was to kidnap the lawyer and force him to lure out his sister, who is a Deputy Comptroller of Customs.
“To make his story believable, he put a call to the said Olugbenga Kehinde Ojo. He told him to meet up with him, that he had successfully kidnapped the lawyer. He was happy and so he rushed to the venue, straight into the waiting arms of police detectives investigating the case.
“Both suspects took the police to a shanty, surrounded by water, situate in Eleko, along Lekki/Epe expressway, Lagos, which they prepared as a hostage ground for their would be victims.
“It was the agreement of both suspects that in order to avoid the mistakes of the notorious kidnapper, Evans, the moment any of their potential victims sights Olugbenga Ojo, a former employee of the Deputy Comptroller’s uncle, that person must be killed because they all know him.
“The CPLagos, wishes to use this opportunity to advise Lagosians to be wary of people who call them out for lucrative business deals as it might turn out to be a ploy to kidnap or harm them. He however assured that the Command will remain proactive in the fight against crimes and criminality in the state.”