Negotiation between the suspected kidnappers of former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Chief Olu Falae and the family have broken down as they differed sharply on the amount to be paid before the septuagenarian politician could be released.
While the kidnappers insisted on N90 million as ransom, the family said they could not afford more than N2 million. The suspected kidnappers, however, said they have ‘helped’ the family enough by reducing the ransom from N100 million to N90 million.
A family source, who was privy to the negotiations, said the suspected kidnappers have said they should get back to them before the end of Tuesday.
An eye witness, who is also Chief Falae’s driver, David Ogunleye said he and others were sent to clear the weeds blocking the dam on the farm and it was when they were returning that they were attacked by the Fulani herdsmen.
“As we were coming, we saw seven Fulani, they attacked us. They started shooting. I tried to reverse the car but unfortunately my car got trapped. It was there they seized me and told me to take them to where our boss was.
“I told them Oga was in the farm but they would not listen. We took them to where Oga was and Chief surfaced and asked what the problem was. From there they took him away. The manager that was even in the car was trying to escape and they used the cutlass to cut him on the head.”
The Personal Assistant to Chief Falae, Capt Moshood Raji (rtd) said the abduction was carefully planned between the Fulani herdsmen and outside influences as there have been clashes between the Fulani herdsmen and Falae over the destruction of his farm produce.
According to him, four of the suspected kidnappers were armed with AK.47 rifles while the other three were with cutlasses, adding that only one of them who identified Falae was masked while the others were not.
Follow Us