Father, daughter kidnap cleric in Ondo

Among the arrested suspects were one Isah Bello, and his daughter, Aisha. Recall that the 67-year-old cleric, who is the Chief Imam of the Uso Community, in the Owo Local Government Area of Ondo State, was kidnapped while working on his farm last month.

The Imam was, however, released the following day after reportedly paying ₦2 million ransom. Parading the suspects at the command headquarters in Akure, Ondo capital, on Tuesday, July 4, the state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Funmilayo Odunlami said the suspects were arrested following the prompt action of the operatives of the command.

Having identified the Bellos, Odunlami named the third suspect Muinah Mohammed.

“On June 18, 2023, one Mrs Bodunde, around 6pm, went to the Uso Division to complain that her husband, Alli Bodunde, went to the farm and he was supposed to come back around 2pm but unfortunately when they did not see him, they sent two persons to the farm to look for him.

“When they got to the farm, they saw his car and his mobile phone but they could not see him. Immediately after the case was reported, the police swung into action and at the end of the day, the man was released.

“But during the investigation, we realised that the man in question is the Chief Imam of the Uso community and through our intelligence team we were able to arrest the suspects,” the police spokesperson added.

Confessing to the crime, Isah said his accomplice, Muinah collected his SIM card from his daughter, Aisha, and the SIM card was used to call the victim’s family for negotiation for the ransom.