A man identified as Alhaji Ibrahim has allegedly devised a disturbing scheme to extort money and valuables from families of people abducted by bandits by falsely claiming that their relatives are in his custody.
In a video posted online by conflict reporter, Bakatsine, Ibrahim was seen sitting on the floor while being interrogated in Hausa about how he allegedly contacted relatives of abducted persons and demanded ransom from them.
During the interrogation, Ibrahim admitted that he contacted a man identified as Isiya and told him that a relative had been abducted and was in their custody.
He said he told Isiya that they would help secure the relative’s release if he provided a motorcycle.
“I called Isiya. I told him that it was me. The person we picked up, his relative, on the road. Yes. By God, we will help him; leave him and bring him home. We are not harming him. But he should buy a motorcycle. I will release him,” Ibrahim said in the video.
When questioned whether he had told Isiya that the victim was in his custody, Ibrahim replied in the affirmative.
“That’s what I told him. That’s what I told him, that he is with us,” he said.
According to him, he instructed Isiya to purchase a motorcycle worth N2.5 million as a condition for the purported release of his relative.
The interrogators also questioned Ibrahim about what he had told Isiya earlier that morning, including an alleged claim that he had spent the night in the bush rather than going to work.
Ibrahim confirmed that the victim’s relative had been told that he would be released that morning.
“Yes. He was told that this morning he would be released. He was told that today, truly today, this morning, he would be released,” he said.
He further explained that he had spoken with Isiya after noticing missed calls on his phone.
“I didn’t tell him anything. But I told him that today, truly, I told him that my phone was at the charging point, and I discussed with him this morning because I woke up and saw his missed calls,” Ibrahim said.
When asked how many other people he had approached using the same method, Ibrahim said there were two.
“I have two people: Alhaji Sani,” he said.
The interrogators subsequently asked who Alhaji Sani was and how much he had been asked to provide.
Ibrahim said Sani was also told to provide a motorcycle.
“He too was told to give us a motorcycle,” he said.
When asked how much he was expected to provide, Ibrahim appeared to indicate that the motorcycle was the demanded item.
The interrogation also revealed that Ibrahim contacted the mother of one of the purported victims.
When asked whether he had called the victim’s mother, he said, “I contacted her too.”
Asked what he told her, Ibrahim said he informed the woman that her son was with them and asked her to persuade him to provide money for his release.
“She was told, ‘Your son, call him. We are at the place with him. And he doesn’t want to listen to us, and we want you to tell him to give us money, so that we can release him.’ That is what I told her,” he said.
Ibrahim was then asked to recount the message he sent or communicated to the victim.
He said he introduced himself and appealed to the person to cooperate with him.
“I told him, ‘Salam, salam alaikum. It is me, Alhaji Ibrahim, from Babana (in Niger State). I want to help you, if you want. If you do justice to us, I will do justice to you,’” he said.
According to Ibrahim, he told the victim that they had his relative but insisted that a motorcycle must be provided before the person would be released.
“If he does what is right, we are here with your relative. But we still need the motorcycle. We’ll release him once you give us the motorcycle. I told him everything,” he said.
The interrogators also asked Ibrahim whether he disclosed the location of the purported victim.
“I told him he was in the bush,” he replied.
When asked who held the victim captive, Ibrahim said the person was in the hands of “the Fulani.”
However, when the interrogators reminded him that he had earlier told the victim that the relative was in his own custody, Ibrahim again confirmed this.
“Yes, that is what I told him,” he replied.
Ibrahim further explained that the demand was not necessarily cash but a motorcycle.
“I said his relative was in our custody. If you give us money, if you give us only the motorcycle, that is enough. I will release your relative,” he said.
“That is what I told him,” he added.
Explaining further, Bakatsine said, “This man had a disturbing way of making money. Whenever bandits abducted someone, he would get the victim’s relatives phone number, call them using a disguised voice, claim their relative was in his custody, and demand ransom.
“This was not the first time he had been arrested over similar crime. But as they say, let’s hear the story from the horse’s mouth.”
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