There are indications that some persons
might still be trapped at the suspected
kidnappers’ den which has come to be
known as Ibadan evil forest.
Some residents of Arowona Adegbeye
Estate, Idi-Mangoro, Soka area, the adjoining
community, told Saturday PUNCH on Friday
that some persons were probably still
trapped in a cellar there.
For instance, the residents claimed that the
commercial motorcyclist, whose
disappearance led to the discovery of the
den, was still missing. They said that some
of the missing okada rider’s colleagues who
were at the den, said he told them on the
phone that about eight of them were in a
cellar.
The community’s public relations officer,
Hon. Segun Adepoju, said, “The okada riders
said the missing okada rider contacted them
onthe phone and told them that he and
some other people were still underground.
“They said the last time he reached them
was about three days ago, so they
suspected that his phone battery had gone
flat now. They said he called and told them
that they could feel people walking above
them at the time people trooped to the
place, but that no one heard them.”
The missing okada rider, according to
reports, last Saturday, took two passengers
to the den from the city centre before his
disappearance. With his phone, he was able
to call his colleagues at the park to tell them
that he had been kidnapped and was being
held at Soka area.
Some okada riders reportedly stormed the
area in search of their friend and found his
motorcycle around the den. However,
reports said they did not find their friend,
but stumbled on the den with body parts
and some kidnapped persons in chains.
“So when they saw his motorcycle, they
probed further and found the victims,
human bones and body parts. Maybe the
abductors of the okada rider didn’t know he
was with a mobile phone,” Adepoju said.
Meanwhile, there was an eerie calm at the
forest on Friday, when our correspondent
was there. There was no activity at the den
except for the presence of a few visitors,
some police officers and an armoured
vehicle stationed at the Macmillan Bus-Stop,
the nearest junction to the den. While our
correspondent was there, the visitors came
in and were not more than three at any
point in time.
Residents said it was the first time since
Sunday that the place would not witness a
large number of visitors. Some of the visitors
weresaid to have come from across the
country in search of their missing loved
ones, although, many of them were also said
to be onlookers and hoodlums.
Since the report about the forest broke out,
many Nigerians have wondered how the
kidnappers’ den had managed to exist
without anyone noticing or informing the
police.
However, residents of the estate said they
knew all along that something sinister was
going on close to them, but were assured by
thepolice that everything was alright.
However, the residents dispelled the reports
that claim that the kidnappers had been
using the forest for about 10 years.
They said the kidnapping activities must
have started around 2012.
The community and the forest are separated
by Ogunpa River. So from the community,
one could see the forest across the river.
Residents identified the person running the
den as Gbadamosi, who was said to have
had facial tribal marks.
The estate’s Chief Security Officer, Pastor
Samson Okoh, said the suspected
kidnappers started using the forest about
two years ago. He was, however, quick to
point out that residents never knew about
the kidnapping ring.
He said, “We noticed that they used to bring
people in chains to the river to bathe. They
would line them up. We were concerned
and so the residents’ association took the
matter up.