Photos: Kidnappers Den Discovered In Ibadan…With Victims Living In Bondage For Years

Culled From Tribune;

•Human skulls, rotten corpses litter scene •Guns recovered;
ATM, ID cards of victims found

Soka community in Ibadan, Oyo State turned to a Mecca of a
sort on Saturday, when an abandoned property at Idi Mangoro area was discovered
with about 15 chained people suspected to have been kidnapped.

About six guns and several cutlasses were also recovered from
the house beside it said to belong to Black Horse Plastic factory. Continue after the cut…Viewer’s discretion is strictly advised too.

The discovery was said to have been made when some people
who were looking for their missing family member, an okada rider, stumbled on
the building situated in an undeveloped part of the community, and from where
they were hearing voices.

On entering the building, the people who made the discovery
reportedly met the inmates who were highly malnourished, but by the time Sunday
Tribune got there, only six of them- three males and three females were met.

One of them was looking like a skeleton and in the throes of
death with his mouth hanging open while he groaned in pain as flies hovered
around his mouth, nose and eyes.

Human bones were also found inside a well in front of the
eight-room building said to belong to Ponti Construction Company. The building
beside it, it was learnt, also belonged to Black Horse Plastic Company.

Also, many shoes, bags, clothes and other accessories were
found in two containers which stood beside the house while mobile numbers
08140574774 and 07038651723 with the name ’Friba’ and 08061197191 with the name
‘Koko Aram’ were also written on the inside wall of the building.

Identification cards with names such as Mr Rafiu Alamu
(tanker driver) and national identity and First Bank ATM cards belonging to one
Mrs Janet Motunrayo Lemo were also found at the scene.

Some of the inmates were said to have run for dear lives
immediately their chains were loosened, with one of them who claimed to have
been an immigration official shouting with glee as he breathed air of freedom
and ran away.

One of the female inmates told Sunday Tribune that she was
delivered of a baby on Friday and the baby was immediately taken away. Evidence
of being a new mother could be seen as she had blood stains around her.

kidnap-den2-newAs operatives of Operation Burst and
policemen from Sanyo arrived at the scene, four men who claimed to be security
guards were arrested from the building belonging to Black Horse.

One of them who spoke with Sunday Tribune gave his name as
Abideen Akanmu, saying that he was brought to the building by one Gbadamosi to
watch over the house inmates.

He further disclosed that Gbadamosi used to bring people who
were dirty looking. “We would bring them and shave their heads,” he disclosed.

A member of the community who spoke anonymously told Sunday
Tribune that he got a call from neighbours and “when I got there, I saw people
who were like mad people but on a closer look, I saw that they were not really
mad, but had gone through starvation. Some of them said they had been there for
two years while others said seven months.

“I was told that some of them died from starvation. That was
why I called the chairman of Oluyole Local Government, Prince Abass Alesinloye
so that he could see things himself.”

 Another community
leader, Dr Amodu Akeem, a lecturer at Lead City University also told Sunday
Tribune: “At about 10.45am, I received a call from a neighbour who intimated me
of the discovery in our community.

“When I got there, I discovered that they were not mad
people as they spoke Yoruba and English fluently. They were about 15. That
prompted us to alert the local government chairman.”

They both appealed to the government to intensify patrol in
the neighbourhood as the community had become endangered with what was
discovered.

One of the inmates who gave his name as Tunji Alabi said he
was a conductor when he was abducted and brought to the house. He said he had
spent seven months.

A community member also alleged that the security guards
were just disguising, labelling them as killers. He said the kidnapped people
were sane but were malnourished. He also added that all of them were met
chained.

Reacting to the story when contacted, the chairman of
Oluyole Local Government, Prince Abass Alesinloye said he had already called
the attention of the Special Adviser to the governor on Security Matters to the
matter.

He added that he had called security agents such as
Operation Burst and Divisional Police Officer, Sanyo Division so that the place
would be secured.

The local government chairman also said he had made
arrangement that the rescued victims be taken to the hospital for prompt
medical attention.