8th November, 2021
Bunmi Ogunremi, a 49-year old suspected kidnapper, and Ige Adu, his accomplice, have been arrested and were today interrogated by the Police in Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital. Mrs Taiwo Fayoke, their food supplier, was also in the Police net. Their activities made many Ekiti sons and daughters stay away from home.
Bunmi (alias Bafon), son of the late Chief Ogunremi Sesan of Ado-Ekiti, in the video that has gone viral, narrated their “jobs” or operations. The suspects confessed to be responsible for the kidnapping of one Olowo Bolaji in Ipoti-Ekiti on 29 January 2020. They also confessed to having kidnapped one Alhaji Suleiman Akinbami, a petrol dealer, on 10 January 2021 in Ado-Ekiti. The suspects stated that they abducted one Mrs Olalusi Dapo, the wife of a former Ekiti State Surveyor General sometime this year.
*Watch the video here
In a statement signed by ASP Abutu Sunday, Police Public Relations Officer, for Commissioner Of Police, Ekiti State Command, the suspect further confessed that their syndicate kidnapped the late Chief Abiodun Ajayi earlier this year in Ado-Ekiti. He jumped from their vehicle but later died in the hospital during treatment due to the injuries he sustained.
The suspects said they usually kept their victims in his father’s house, one Late Chief Bafon, located at Water Works, Ureje, Ado-Ekiti and sometimes move them to Ayere Forest in Kogi State before demanding ransom. They mentioned one Banji Akeem a.k.a Oro who was earlier arrested by the RRS operatives for the offence of armed robbery and is still in RRS custody.
They also mentioned one Samuel a.k.a Samuel Ebira, Jimoh Dele, a.k.a Dele Petim; Dayo ,a.k.a Dayo Igwe and Johnson, a.k.a Yellow Okada who is presently at large as other members of their gang. A concerted effort led to the arrest of one Taiwo Fayoke who confessed to being their food supplier whenever victims are held, hostage.
Ogunremi mentioned also the kidnapping of his own mother-in-law! He confessed in the video: ”The first job I ever did was that of Akinbami who owns a filling station. The second one is a woman. The third one was in Akure. The fourth one was my mother-in-law”
An Ado Ekiti civil servant told PMNEWS today that a man who kidnapped his own mother in law “solidifies the biblical saying that the heart of man is deceitful above all things and it is desperately wicked.”
The arrest and confession of Ogunremi show that some of the kidnappings that happened in Ekiti were not only by Fulani herdsmen. Yoruba people are also involved along such dangerous narrow roads as Ado-Akure; Igbara Odo-Ilawe-Ado; Polytechnic-Ijan- Aisegba; and Ado-Ifaki.
When he was kidnapped on 10 January this year in Ekiti and was released a week after (he paid some money), the oil dealer, Akinbami, said those who kidnapped him spoke Yoruba fluently.
In his words“They spoke good Yoruba and good English. I want to believe that they had been in Yorubaland for long if they are not Yoruba. They spoke good Yoruba. They spoke good English as well. They claimed to be jobless graduates.”
Ogunremi is from a prominent Ado Ekiti family and his alias, Bafon, is actually a family chieftaincy title in Oke Age/Idolofin area of the city. His father died about two weeks ago at the age of 92.
Below is the Press Statement by the Ekiti State Police Command
*POLICE PRESS CONFERENCE, EKITI STATE POLICE COMMAND ON MONDAY 8TH NOVEMBER, 2012.*
Gentlemen of the Press,
I am delighted to welcome you all to another press briefing which gives me the opportunity to avail the journalists and the general public the recent operation and breakthrough of the Command.
It should be noted that the Command, under the leadership of *CP TUNDE MOBAYO,* is in the business of ensuring the security of lives and properties of the good people of Ekiti State as well as creating an enabling environment where everybody moves about their lawful businesses without any form of apprehension.
It would be recalled that the Command, on Thursday 4th November 2021, informed you about a success recorded during a joint operation of the Police and other security agencies including the Amotekun Corp and the local hunters during which one of the kidnappers was killed by the security operatives while the victims were rescued. Today, we are glad to keep you abreast again on a related breakthrough made by the Operatives of the Rapid Response Squad of the Command.
“ *CASE OF CONSPIRACY, KIDNAPPING, ARMED ROBBERY, MURDER, UNLAWFUL POSSESSION OF WEEDS SUSPECTED TO BE INDIAN HEMP AND UNLAWFUL POSSESSION OF ARMS AND AMMUNITION:*
On 06/11/2021 at about 16:00hrs, the Command’s Rapid Response Squad(RRS), based on a thorough investigation, arrested one *Ogunremi Bunmi* ‘m’, the son of Late Chief Ogunremi Sesan of Ado-Ekiti and one *Ige Adu* ‘m’ of Ikere-Ekiti for multiple kidnappings and other heinous crimes.
During interrogation, the suspects confessed to be responsible for the kidnapping of one Olowo Bolaji ‘m’ in Ipoti-Ekiti on 29/01/2020. They also confessed to having kidnapped one Alhaji Suleiman Akinbami, a petrol dealer, who was kidnapped on 10/01/2021 in Ado-Ekiti. The suspects stated that they kidnapped one Mrs Olalusi Dapo, the wife of a former Ekiti State Surveyor General sometime this year.
The suspect further confessed that their syndicate kidnapped Late Chief Abiodun Ajayi earlier this year in Ado-Ekiti who jumped from their vehicle but later died in the hospital during treatment due to the injuries he sustained.
The suspects said they usually keep their victims in his father’s house, one Late Chief Bafon, located at Water Works, Ado-Ekiti and sometimes move them to Ayere Forest in Kogi State before demanding ransom. They mentioned one Banji Akeem a.k.a Oro who was earlier arrested by the RRS operatives for the offence of armed robbery and is still in RRS custody. They also mentioned one Samuel a.k.a Samuel Ebira, Jimoh Dele a.k.a Dele Petim, Dayo a.k.a Dayo Igwe and Johnson a.k.a Yellow Okada who is presently at large as other members of their gang. The concerted effort led to the arrest of one Taiwo Fayoke ‘f’ who confessed to being their food supplier whenever victims are held, hostage. Items recovered are:
i. Five locally made barrel guns
ii. One Toyota Corolla Car
iii. Thirteen rounds of live cartridges.
iv. Two locally made double barrel guns.
While effort is ongoing to arrest the fleeing suspects, *the Command declares a reward of Five Million Naira Naira(5,000,000:00) for anyone who supplies credible information concerning the whereabouts of the fleeing suspects to the following GSM numbers 09064050086 / 07031620186 / 08062335577*
The Command appreciates the good-spirited members of the public as well as the various security agencies whose cooperation and supports have always helped the Police.
The Command also acknowledge the unwavering support of the government of Ekiti State under the leadership of His Excellency, *DR JOHN KAYODE FAYEMI.*
The Command, while assuring members of the public that those paraded today shall be charged to Court for prosecution as soon as possible, implores everyone to be security conscious and avoid acts that could jeopardize the efforts of the government and the security operatives.