I plotted kidnap of my boss, received ransom in dollars, says former driver at Zenith Bank

By EUGENE AGHA

Owes Okpaka, a former driver at Zenith Bank, has narrated how he plotted the abduction of three managers of the bank.

Okpaka confessed getting ransom in dollars after he and some of his gang members were arrested by the Intelligence Response Team (IRT) of the Inspector-General of Police (IGP).

Those arrested alongside Okpaka were identified as Lawrence Kevwe Egagah, Victor Dominic, Usobotie Sylvester and Alex Okoun.

They admitted receiving the sum of N50 million as ransom in the three abductions which they said was shared among the five gang members.

“I graduated from Oghara Polytechnic, Delta State. I was working in Zenith Bank Ogonu branch as a driver, but I resigned from the job in January, 2021. I was arrested because I masterminded the kidnapping of three Management staff of the bank.

“I masterminded the kidnap of three staff of Zenith Bank. The first person kidnapped is one Daniel. I was the person who monitored his movements and I gave out his location to my gang members. Daniel is the Zenith Bank branch manager in Warri. We kidnapped him sometime in October, 2020.

“He was in our custody for one week. I don’t know who negotiated the ransom. I don’t also know the actual amount paid as ransom but the ransom was paid in dollars and my own share was given to me in dollars. When I converted it to naira, it was N2.5million. The second kidnapping was that of a woman, Mrs. Zowa a staff member of Zenith Bank, Ogonu Branch, Warri.

“I was the person who gave out information about the woman to my gang members. I cannot remember the exact month that we kidnapped her, but it was Victor and I that planned the operation. Victor also brought two other boys for the job and we kidnapped the woman along PTI junction, Warri. Victor was also the person who negotiated for the ransom. I got the sum of N2.5million as my own share of the ransom.

“The woman was kept in our custody for one week before her ransom was paid. The third kidnapping that I carried out with my gang members was that of Mrs. Isioma, also a manager with Zenith bank, Effurun Branch. I was still the person who monitored her movement. Victor kept Mrs. Isioma in his house but I was part of the ransom negotiation. We agreed on N20million and I got N10million as my share. I used my Toyota Corolla car to go and pick up the ransom, it was the last kidnapping I did before I was arrested,” Okpaka said.

On his part, Victor Dominic said; “I was arrested in my house at Oghara, at first I did not know why I was arrested but when I got to the station that was when I knew why I was arrested. I later discovered that I was arrested because of my involvement in Kidnapping.

“We are five in number in our kidnapping gang, we usually use one pump action gun loaded with live cartridges and an AK47 riffle loaded with one magazine containing 10 -15 five ammunition. It is Owes, who is a member of our gang that usually brings this jobs. So far, I have been involved in three different kidnapping. It occurred between October 2020 and February 2021.

“The first operation was in October, 2020, we kidnapped a man. It was Owes who gave us information about him. After kidnapping the man on our way back, Kevwe ordered us to come down from the vehicle so he could take the victim to his camp, but it was I and Kewve that negotiated for the ransom. We bought two small phone which we used to tack victims family. We use the second phone for negotiations. After much negotiations, the victim’s family, paid us the sum of N15million dollars equivalent. It was Kevwe and I that went to pick up the ransom. I got N1.6mllion as my own share of the ransom.

“The second kidnapping that Owes brought was a woman we kidnapped but I did not recognize the type of vehicle she was driving after we kidnapped her, I took her to my house at Oghara and called her people for ransom negotiations N15, 000,000 was agreed as ransom which was to be paid in dollars. After we received the money in dollars, it was discovered that it was N12million that was paid” he added.

The police said all five suspects were arrested from different locations in Delta State and that they have confessed abducting three bank staff and that in all they got about N50 million before releasing the victims.

Calls and text messages to the Force Public Relations Officer, Frank Mba, were neither returned nor replied.

A policeman who answered one of the calls said the Force PRO was busy with the changes in the Force. (Daily Trust)