Reported by: Oahimire Omone Precious | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
The Oyo State Police Command has made a stunning revelation in the kidnapping of the sister of former Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, and her 12‑year‑old twin sons: a personal assistant attached to a member of the Adelabu family is alleged to have conspired with the abductors, providing critical inside information about the family’s movements, routines, and daily schedule. The disclosure has transformed what was already a high‑profile abduction into a case of intimate betrayal, raising urgent questions about security within the households of politically exposed families in Nigeria.
The victims, Mrs. Olaide Busayo Adegoke John-Paul, the younger sister of former Power Minister and APC governorship aspirant Adebayo Adelabu, and her 12‑year‑old twin sons, Peter and Paul, were abducted along Elewura Street, off Ring Road, Ibadan, on the morning of Wednesday, June 3, 2026, at approximately 7:30 a.m. Armed gunmen reportedly intercepted her vehicle as she was driving her sons to school, shattered a side window, and dragged the mother and her children into a waiting getaway car before speeding off. For three days, the family waited in agony as police launched an intelligence‑led manhunt.
On Monday, June 8, the Police Public Relations Officer for the Oyo State Command, CSP Olayinka Ayanlade, appeared on Channels Television’s “The Morning Brief” programme and laid bare the alleged involvement of a household insider. According to Ayanlade, the kidnap plot began as far back as May 2026, when one of the principal suspects approached a personal assistant attached to the Adelabu family for information. The aide, identified by the police as Shehu, was said to be familiar with the family’s daily habits. “The one who was with the family, who happened to be a personal assistant by name Shehu, was one of those who were picked,” Ayanlade told reporters. “He was the one that was first approached to give them inside information of how the family lives, their lifestyle, their routine, and all of that.”
The police spokesman further alleged that the kidnappers initially planned to abduct the mother of the children. However, after receiving intelligence from the insider that a driver usually took the children to school, they adjusted their plan to target the children instead. “The initial plan was to kidnap the mother,” Ayanlade explained. “However, they realised that it was the driver who usually takes them to school, and they changed their plan to go for the kids. Unfortunately for them, that day it was the mother who drove them to school, and they swung into action.” The incident underscores a particularly cruel irony: the kidnappers’ detailed surveillance of the family’s routine — enabled by an employee who was trusted to move within their home — was precise enough to anticipate the driver’s daily role, yet the unexpected presence of the mother herself on the day of the attack inadvertently placed all three victims in harm’s way.
The breakthrough in the rescue operation came after the arrest of a key suspect who had been on the police watch list. Ayanlade identified the suspect as Ololu, a wanted kidnapper whose movements had been tracked by the command. “Of course, one of the perpetrators by name popularly called Ololu has been on the command watch list. The operatives continued to trail him until his eventual arrest on Thursday,” he said. Ololu’s arrest and subsequent interrogation led operatives to another suspect, Dare Oyedele, popularly known as “Solution,” who was arrested in Ibadan. Police investigators then followed a trail of digital intelligence that eventually pointed them to a secluded residential property in the Araromi Quarters of Ayegun North, in Oluyole Local Government Area, on the outskirts of Ibadan.
On Saturday, June 6, at approximately 7:30 p.m., operatives of the Force Intelligence Department’s Intelligence Response Team (FID‑IRT) raided the property. According to police accounts, the building was a nondescript three‑bedroom bungalow that had been converted into a detention centre. When security operatives approached, a gang member identified as Kelechi, who had reportedly travelled from Lagos to participate in the kidnapping, opened fire on the police team. Police returned fire, neutralising Kelechi and another suspect who was providing cover fire. “They opened fire on the operatives, and then the operatives professionally and with tactical precision neutralised him and the second, who was also there to give a covering fire for him,” Ayanlade said.
The victims were found unharmed inside the building. They were immediately rescued, taken to a hospital for medical evaluation, and subsequently reunited with their family. A search of the premises yielded three pump‑action rifles, 14 live cartridges, an unregistered ash‑coloured Toyota Corolla believed to have been used during the abduction, criminal charms, a battle axe, a hammer, substances suspected to be hard drugs, and two face masks. Two additional suspects, Semiu Ishola, 39, and Adeyemi Ayobami, 35, were arrested on charges of providing the hideout and supporting the gang’s operations.
On Sunday, June 7, the Oyo State Commissioner of Police, Oluwagbemiga Abimbola, paraded four suspects at the State Police Headquarters in Eleyele, Ibadan. Among those paraded was Shehu, the personal assistant alleged to have supplied the kidnappers with insider information. Items recovered from the suspects were displayed to journalists, and the police commissioner reaffirmed the command’s commitment to tracking down fleeing members of the syndicate.
The Oyo State Government swiftly moved to demolish the kidnappers’ hideout on Monday, June 8, as a symbolic and practical measure to deter future criminal use of residential properties for abduction. Officials said the demolition, which was captured in a video that circulated widely on social media, was aimed at reinforcing the state’s zero‑tolerance stance against criminality and sending a clear message that properties used for illegal purposes would not be spared.
The family of the victims, meanwhile, expressed profound relief while grappling with the pain of betrayal from within. Mrs. Olufunmilayo Adelabu, the mother of former Minister Adebayo Adelabu, told journalists at her residence in the Challenge area of Ibadan that she had spent the day before her daughter’s abduction praying for victims of an earlier mass kidnapping of schoolchildren in Oriire Local Government Area. “I was devastated when I heard what had happened. It brought me to tears because no mother wishes to receive such frightening news about her children and grandchildren,” she said. “I had sincerely prayed for those who were in captivity in Oriire, asking God to bring them home safely. I never imagined that the very next day, my daughter and grandchildren would become victims of a similar incident.”
The arrest of a family insider in the Adelabu kidnapping represents a significant development in Nigerian law enforcement’s understanding of the role of domestic staff and household employees in facilitating abduction‑for‑ransom crimes. While police investigations are ongoing, and Ayanlade declined to speculate on whether the kidnapping was politically motivated or carried out solely for ransom, the case has already had a chilling effect on politically exposed families across the country, many of whom are now reviewing their security protocols and background‑check procedures for household staff.
The case has also drawn attention to the broader crisis of kidnapping in Nigeria. Data from the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps indicates that over 1,200 kidnapping incidents were recorded across the South‑West in 2025, a 15% increase from the previous year. The abduction of Mrs. John-Paul and her twin sons occurred just weeks after the mass kidnapping of over 40 pupils and teachers in Oriire Local Government Area, a reminder of the persistent threat that kidnap‑for‑ransom gangs pose to ordinary Nigerians.
As of Tuesday, June 9, the police had not released further details about whether Shehu, the alleged insider, had offered a confession or named other accomplices still at large. Residents of Ibadan, still reeling from the revelation that a family aide could have orchestrated such a betrayal, have been urged by the police commissioner to remain vigilant and report suspicious movements to the authorities. The investigation continues, but the case of the personal assistant who allegedly sold his employer’s family for a share of a ransom is already being cited as a cautionary tale for any household that employs staff without adequate vetting. In the sprawling suburbs of Ibadan, and beyond, families are now asking themselves a question that had once seemed unthinkable: who, in their own home, might be watching them for the highest bidder?
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