Skip to main content

I Did Not Plan My Kidnap, Says Lagos Businessman.

A Nigerian businessman, Ayodele Olaoye, on Friday told a Lagos High Court that he did not plot and execute his own kidnap, to extort his parents.

Olaoye made the denial while testifying at the trial of seven persons accused of kidnapping him before Justice Olabisi Akinlade of an Ikeja High Court.
The accused are: Esther Phillips, 23; Patricia Nna, 26; Kingsley Okonwa, 24; Osita Adigwe, 35; Uzochukwu Ezioha, 25; Jude Sunday, 36; and Michael Olarenwaju, 31.
The accused, including two women, were arraigned on March 5.
They are facing a five-count charge bordering on conspiracy, armed robbery and kidnapping.
They, however, pleaded not guilty and were remanded in prison custody.
Olaoye had on Thursday told the court how Phillips, who he described as “a friend”, conspired with the others to kidnap him on April 22, 2012 in Lagos.
He claimed that the kidnappers collected a N5 million ransom from his parents before he managed to escape from their hideout on the fourth day.
Speaking under cross-examination on Friday by counsel to the accused, Mr Abali Abali and Mr F.C. Mbagwu, Olaoye insisted that he had no hand in the kidnapping.
The witness said he trusted the first accused (Phillips) whom he claimed to have met at Pegas Club in Opebi, Ikeja in February 2012.
Olaoye, who denied that Esther was his girlfriend, however, admitted that they had an amorous relationship.
“On the day that I was kidnapped, the third accused (Okonwa) took my phone and called my mother demanding 400,000 dollars.
“He also called my father and told them that I was in his cage.
“My parents were out of the country on that day but my father, Mr Segun Olaoye, returned two days later and paid some money to them.’’
The witness further told the court that he was beaten by the accused, in order to convince his parents to pay the ransom.
Olaoye said it was while they were sharing the money that he was able to sneak outside from where he was held.
The case had been adjourned till June 7, for continuation of trial.

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Inside Africa

August 20,2013 Divided Egyptians united in grief Many people across Egypt have been burying their dead following the violence of recent weeks The recent violence in Egypt has claimed the lives of people on both sides of the country's political divide. But while the bloodshed is polarising the country further, grief is one thing uniting them, says the BBC's Ahmed Maher. Here in Alexandria, Egypt's second largest city, it was a tragedy that left the family of Ahmed Qadri devastated. Mr Qadri was shot twice in his chest and abdomen as security forces launched a brutal crackdown on the Brotherhood supporters camping outside Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque in Cairo on 14 August. A senior Muslim Brotherhood leader in his hometown, Mr Qadri is survived by a wife and three children. His 22-year-old eldest son, Fidaa, says he will not get over the death of his father for the rest of his life. Fighting back tears, Fidaa said he mad...
Post a Comment
Read more

News

August 19, 2013 We heard fire victims cry for help –Residents   Ekene   Neighbours of a family that perished in an inferno in a building located in Shagari Estate, Lagos State, said they heard the victims’ cries for help. PUNCH Metro had reported last week Thursday that a family of five lost their lives after  fire engulfed their three-bedroom apartment in the early hours of Wednesday. The victims of the fire were the mother, Mrs Anwuzia, the children, Ekene 16, and Emeka 17, an aunt, identified only as Philomena, and another yet-to-be- identified man. It was learnt that the father was not at home when the incident occurred. A friend of the children, who spoke to our correspondent on the condition of anonymity, said he was talking to one of the victims when the incident happened. He said, “Around 11.30pm that day, I was chatting with Ekene on the telephone and after sometime, she stopped responding. I was later told by another fr...
Post a Comment
Read more
My Level Has Changed. Ace comic actor, Hafiz Oyetoro spoke with GBENRO ADESINA about the challenges he faced before his breakthrough. How far have you gone with your Ph.D programme at the University of Ibadan (UI)? I am still on it. This is my second year. I am currently doing some field work. I hope to round off the field work by the end of this year. Afterwards, I will start writing. How are you combining it with your tight schedule? Everybody knows what he wants in life. You have to create time to do all the things you want to do and that is why everyone must be good in managing his or her time. Definitely, scale of preference will come in. No one has time to combine many necessary and important things but one has to create time to achieve one’s dream. You did an advert for Etisalat and all of a sudden, you switched over to MTN. Why did you switch from Etisalat to MTN? I will not want to say anything about that for now. Please, do not let us go there. It is no go ...
Post a Comment
Read more