Gang lured victim with phony business deal
(Reuters) - A criminal gang released a United Arab Emirates man on March 19 in Ibadan after holding him for 60 days, the state security services (SSS) said on Thursday. Seven men - but not the gang leaders - had been arrested.
The kidnappers tricked Mohammed Khamis al Ali into coming to Nigeria on Jan. 20 to carry out a business deal in Lagos, the SSS said. He was seized and held in a remote village in nearby Osun state for two months.
"(Al Ali) was lured to visit Nigeria for a phantom business transaction by a fake company, Finuche Investments, was abducted by a kidnap syndicate and held hostage for about 60 days," SSS spokeswoman Marilyn Ogar told reporters.
Ogar said the seven men arrested were guarding al Ali but the masterminds were still at large. The suspects who had been arrested stood behind Ogar as she spoke, heads bowed, some in tears.
When questioned, they said they dumped al Ali in Ibadan after their bosses stopped contacting them with instructions about what to do with him. Neither Ogar nor the suspects mentioned payment of a ransom.
A Briton and an Italian seized in May last year were killed on March 8 before Nigerian and British special forces could rescue them, while a German seized in Kano, northern Nigeria's biggest city, in January is still missing.
A group claiming to be from al Qaeda's north African wing posted a statement on the internet last week saying they were holding the German kidnapped in January.
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