Prince Kazeem Oseni, the son of the kidnapped traditional ruler of Iba town in Lagos state, Oba Goriola Oseni, has testified against the four kidnappers of his father, stating that they received a ransom of N15.1million to free the monarch.
Kazeem disclosed this during the trial proceedings of the four men; Duba Furejo, Ododomo Isaiah, Reuben Anthony, and Yerin Fresh.
According to Kazeem, who testified as the second prosecution witness, the family of the monarch delivered the money in the tranches of N12m and N3m after negotiating from the initial demand of N500m, at a canal near Igbehinadun in Iba town.
The accused were arraigned before Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo on October 24, 2016 on eight counts bordering on conspiracy, murder, attempted murder, armed robbery and kidnapping.
Oba Goriola Oseni, testified as the first witness, and during the proceedings, members of the public were barred from the court at the request of Kazeem.
This was for the monarch’s safety, on the grounds that the defendants could be part of a criminal syndicate.
Though the defence counsel, Chief Selowei Baidi, Mr. J. O. Egwuaroje and Mr. Anthony Onwueze, opposed the request, Justice Taiwo, however, granted it.
The judge, in a short ruling, held that Kazeem’s application was not prejudicial and assured the defence of a fair hearing.
She ordered all journalists in court to identify themselves by their identity cards in order to be allowed to cover the proceedings.
The 73-year-old monarch, in his testimony, narrated his ordeal.
According to him, the kidnappers stormed his residence at about 8pm on July 16th and whisked him away after they had frightened his family members by shooting sporadically while dragging him out.
In the process, his security man was killed, alongside a motorcyclist.
The men, he continued, took him to a speedboat, which was used to take him to a riverine camp with about 50 militants.
He said he was driven in another boat to a bigger camp with six houses that had more militants.
He pointed at the first, second and third defendants in the dock as being part of the kidnappers.
He identified the fourth defendant as one of those that used to visit the camp where he was kept for three weeks.
The monarch told the court that the ransom was paid after much negotiation, and upon being released, the second defendants left him in a boat in the middle of a stream and asked him to paddle his way to safety.
“I managed to paddle the boat till I got to a place where I met some women. They told me I was at Iba Expressway. They bought me a T-shirt which I wore on my boxers and that’s what I wore to the palace.”
The case has been adjourned until November 18 by Justice Taiwo, for the continuation of the trial.