A commercial motorcycle rider, Kelvin Ogaga, has confessed to abducting a three-year-old girl entrusted to his care, claiming he resorted to the crime because of mounting debts and financial hardship.
Ogaga, who was paraded by the Delta State Police Command, admitted that he had been conveying the child between her home and school for about three weeks before allegedly conspiring with his girlfriend and other accomplices to kidnap her for ransom.
“I was the one taking the child to school. A friend suggested that I kidnap the child so we could collect money from the parents,” the suspect said.
He alleged that an accomplice identified simply as “Omo” made the ransom calls to the child’s family, demanding N4 million and threatening to kill the girl if the incident was reported to the police.
According to Ogaga, the family eventually paid N500,000 to secure the child’s release, and part of the ransom was used to settle his debts.
He also admitted that his girlfriend was aware of the plot and participated in planning the abduction, adding that he had known “Omo” for about a year.
Confirming the incident, the Police Public Relations Officer of the Delta State Command, SP Bright Edafe, said the child was rescued unharmed while part of the ransom had been recovered.
Edafe said the suspect had been employed by the child’s parents to transport the girl to and from school for a monthly fee of N10,000.
According to him, after carrying out the assignment for about three weeks, Ogaga allegedly kidnapped the child and, together with his accomplices, used a separate phone line to contact the family.
“They claimed the child had been kidnapped and demanded N4 million ransom, warning the parents not to involve the police,” Edafe said.
He explained that after the family paid N500,000 for the child’s release, the command launched an intelligence-led investigation, deploying technical resources that led to the suspect’s arrest.
The police spokesman added that investigations were ongoing to apprehend other members of the kidnapping syndicate involved in the incident, which occurred in Ughelli about three weeks ago.
