Key points

• Seven suspects were arrested in Kaduna State and Abuja.
• Adedayo’s decomposing body was recovered at the gang’s camp on Oct. 19.
• Police seized four AK-47 rifles, a revolver, 63 rounds and a ransom phone.

Police have arrested seven suspected members of a kidnapping syndicate operating in the Federal Capital Territory and Kaduna State, and recovered the body of a woman abducted in August.

The Force Intelligence Department’s Special Tactical Squad, working with vigilantes and other agencies, found the decomposing remains of Oluwadamilola Adedayo at the gang’s camp in Tukuba Forest, Kuje, on Oct. 19.

Gunmen abducted her on Aug. 23 from her family home in Kuchiyako, Kuje, along with her mother, Nancy, her 12-year-old brother, David, and their housemaid, Jennifer David.

What happened to the family

Police said the kidnappers freed the mother about an hour after the attack so she could arrange a ransom.

The housemaid and the boy were assaulted and left unconscious in a forest, but later recovered and found their way home.

STS Commander ACP Godfrey Victor said the family paid N16.2 million for the children’s release, yet the suspects demanded another N50 million before freeing Oluwadamilola.

The arrests

After a petition endorsed by the Inspector-General’s Secretariat on Oct. 15, operatives arrested two suspects in Rijana, Kaduna State, and five more in Sagbon Lugbe, Abuja.

The suspects are Ishaka Abdullahi, Abdullahi Dabo, Abubakar Jibrin, Barahu Ibrahim, Sani Mohammed, Alidu Lawal and Yakubu Abubakar.

Police recovered four AK-47 rifles, a locally made revolver, 63 rounds of ammunition, a phone used for ransom talks, N400,000 and a motorcycle.

They also linked the gang to the Sept. 24 abduction of businessman John Ali in Kuje. The victim’s father thanked the police and called for justice. The suspects have not been convicted.