Man, 21, confesses to kidnapping, murder of two nephews

The police in Osun State in Nigeria have arrested a 21-year-old undergraduate of a state-owned university and his herdsman accomplice for kidnapping and killing two children.

Usman Muyideen, a level 200 student of Public Administration, and his 20-year-old accomplice were arrested over the death of Thompson Onibokun, 13, and 12-year-old Samson Onibokun, who were said to be the children of Mr Muyideen’s elder brother.

According to The Nation, the two children were kidnapped on January 26, 2021, on a football field around Iludun area, Osogbo. The parents reported the case at the police station in the area before the matter was transferred to the State Criminal Investigations Department.

Confessing to the crime, Mr Muyideen said: “The herdsman talked me into kidnapping them. He is my friend. We have lived together since childhood. When we got to the field where Thompson and Samson were, I told them to follow me and they did because I am the younger brother of their daddy.

“We didn’t know that they will die. The phones we used in contacting the parents were tracked by the police and we were arrested.”

Also confessing to the crime, suspect Memudu said: “I am a Fulani herdsman. I abducted two children with the help of Muyideen who is their family member. We went to the football field where the children were playing and abducted the two of them.

“We took them on a commercial bike to a forest where my cattle feed around Coker area, Osogbo. I know the terrain very well. We were in the forest for four days, giving the children bread and soft drink.

“We contacted the parents and demanded N25 million ransom. I wanted to use the ransom to start a business. We gave them six days to provide the ransom but, unfortunately, the two children died on the fourth day after the rope we used to tie them to a tree strangulated them.”

After the two siblings died, the abductors stated they did not contact the parents again, but rather left the corpses there and they were discovered four days after.