Families are expected to have respect for human life. But when a family is accused of collaborating to commit kidnapping, it raises troubling questions about the changing face of organised crime. The arrest of a father and his three sons in Ondo State has brought those concerns into sharp focus. DAMILOLA ORIGBEMISUYI reports.
Over the years, kidnapping has evolved into one of Nigeria’s most persistent security threats, turning what were once routine activities into risky ventures for many citizens. From highways to rural communities and even urban centres, the menace has continued to spread, leaving families traumatised, disrupting livelihoods and undermining public confidence in security.
Against this backdrop, the recent arrest by the Ondo State Security Network Agency, also known as Amotekun Corps, of a father and his three sons over an alleged kidnapping in Ondo State has once again drawn attention to the changing face of organised crime in Nigeria, with security experts warning that criminal networks are becoming increasingly sophisticated and, in some cases, deeply rooted within family structures.
The suspects were among 28 people paraded by the Amotekun Corps at its headquarters in Akure, the state capital, after a series of operations across the state.
While others were arrested for offences ranging from armed banditry and robbery to rape, cultism, stealing and breach of peace, it was the alleged involvement of a father and three of his sons in a kidnapping syndicate that stood out.
Parading the suspects, the Commander of the Amotekun Corps in Ondo, Akogun Adetunji Adeleye, disclosed that the operation was the culmination of months of meticulous intelligence gathering and surveillance.
According to him, one of the principal suspects had been on the Corps’ watch list since 2024 due to alleged kidnapping activities in the Ondo North Senatorial District.
“There is a particular suspect we have been trailing since 2024 for kidnapping activities in the Northern Senatorial District. I’m glad to let you know that the long arm of the law finally caught up with him during the operation we carried out,” Adeleye said.
He explained that intelligence gathered over several months eventually enabled operatives to trace the suspects to their hideout during a coordinated operation that also resulted in the rescue of a kidnapped victim.
According to the commander, investigators were surprised to discover that those allegedly responsible for the abduction were members of the same family.
The suspects were identified as a 56-year-old man, alongside his sons names witheld.
Adeleye alleged that the family used cattle-rearing as a cover while coordinating kidnapping operations around Oba-Akoko and adjoining communities. “We found a family, a father and three sons, directly involved,” he said.
He further revealed that the eldest son had previously evaded security operations and remained outside Ondo State for nearly two years before recently returning to coordinate another kidnapping operation.
Although the allegations remain subject to judicial determination, the development has already sparked widespread public concern because it presents an unusual picture of alleged criminality involving multiple members of a single household.
The rescue operation, Adeleye explained, was anything but routine. According to him, the suspects resisted arrest and allegedly attacked Amotekun operatives. Despite the confrontation, the officers overpowered them, rescued the victim alive, and arrested the suspects.
The operation also resulted in significant recoveries. Adeleye disclosed that more than 75 per cent of the ransom paid by the victim’s family was recovered from the kidnappers’ hideout. Operatives also recovered alcoholic drinks, drugs, cigarettes, and materials allegedly used to blindfold the victim during captivity.
However, the commander declined to disclose the exact amount recovered. “The family paid the ransom themselves. Amotekun is not interested in how much was paid,” he said. He explained that the recovered funds had already been returned to members of the victim’s family because they were theirs.
Behind the successful rescue, however, lay the painful story of a young man whose ordeal illustrates the trauma thousands of Nigerian families continue to endure as kidnapping spreads across the country.
For the victim, Samuel Oyebade, the day began like every other. He was travelling on his motorcycle to Oba-Akoko, a community in the Akoko South West Local Government Area of the state, when a mechanical fault forced him to stop along the road to contact one of his employers.
Within moments, four armed men emerged from the bush. “They were four, and I was alone. They had guns, cutlasses and sticks. They began beating me immediately. They struck me with cutlasses on my head, body and hands before taking me into the bush,” Oyebade recalled.
