Police goes after the notorious Kareem family, the kidnap kingpins of Nigeria. Places cash reward on information to arrest remaining members

Police goes after the notorious Kareem family, the kidnap kingpins of Nigeria

Lagos State Police Command has placed a bounty on remaining members of the infamous Kareem family noted for their kidnap prowess. The husband and in-laws of the Funmilayo Kareem, the notorious ‘nanny kidnapper’ that made waves across Nigeria couple of weeks ago are regarded by police as kidnap kingpins terrorising residents of Lagos State and other South Western Nigeria states.

“Give information that will aid their arrest and you will get a cash reward,” the command said.

The police made the promise in an effort to arrest the nanny’s husband, Waheed Kareem and his brother, Akeem Kareem.

In a statement, the command said: “We will appreciate any credible information that will facilitate their arrest.

“Together, we can keep Lagos and indeed our neighbourhood safe and crime free.”

Funmilayo Kareem,35, was arrested by the Lagos State Police Command, Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) operatives last month after her supposedly second Kidnap mission in Lagos. Her notorious family including her husband, in-laws and other relatives,  abducted three children of the Orekoya family and demanded for a 13 million naira ransom.

Details:

Funmilayo Adeyemi, the arrested notorious  confessed to be the mastermind of the kidnap of the Orekoya and the Eshare­garan kids in Lagos. She was arrested by operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, Lagos po­lice command, Ikeja.

The mother of four and aged 35, Funmi­layo was declared wanted when the news of the kidnap of the Orekoya three kids by their nanny hit the media. The story was that Fun­milayo, who claimed that her

name was Mary Akinloye, was recruited through a popular online platform. She disappeared with the kids on April 10, barely 24 hours after she re­sumed work at the Orekoya family residence in Surulere, Lagos.

The Orekoya kids kidnapped by the Kareem family gang

The kidnap syndicate initially demanded N15 million from the Orekoyas, a ransom that was later

negotiated to N13 million out of which N2 million was paid into a given bank account to bait the suspects. The children identified as Demola, 6, Adedamola, 4, and Aderomola, 11months, were later dumped naked in an uncompleted building on Tuesday last week after nine days in their abductors’ custody.

She also admitted that her gang arranged the December 2014 kidnap of two kids; Raphael and Michael Esharegaran in Magodo area of the state. She equally confessed that her husband, Rasheed Kareem, brother-in-law, Hakeem Kareem and their mother who are still at large are members of the kidnap syndicate, which she called ‘family business.’

Lame justification for crime

In an exclusive encounter by DailySun with Funmi­layo’s mother, Prophetess Esther Adeyemi at the police station, she looked visibly shocked at the confession of her daughter on TV. She stormed Lagos police command, Ikeja to con­firm that the suspect being paraded on TV was actually her first child, Funmilayo.

Prophetess Adeyemi claimed that her visit to the police station to identify the suspect on Monday was the first time she was seeing her daughter since she left home in 2005.

“She told me that she was going back to school and never came back home. She left us eight years ago. They kidnapped and hypnotized my daughter”, she lamented.

Mrs Adeyemi said she had borne the bur­den of training Funmilayo and three others all alone ever since their father died in the 90s.

“All has always been well till their fa­ther died. He was killed during the Ife and Modakeke fight. During that time, we were based in Calabar and as expected we were evicted from the barracks and we relocated to Osun State. 

He died as a Chief Superintendent of Police. Luckily, I am a prophetess and I de­cided to embrace my ministry. I had to get closer home and most importantly close to the mountain. By the grace of God, I became popular in Lagos and Ajah. 

As the first daughter of the house, I want­ed the best for her, so I invested in her edu­cation. She got admission to study Survey at Osun Polytechnic. After her graduation, she worked briefly as a receptionist till one day in 2005, she came to me that she wanted to go back to school for her HND. 

I gave her enough money to sustain her for months. This was the last I heard from her. I was worried but anytime that I attempted to call the police, she will call her sister and tell her that she is fine. This always happened anytime I go to the mountain to pray. She is 35 years and old enough to be a mother but I never knew that I had four grandchildren from her,” Mrs Adeyemi narrated.

When asked why she did not use her gift of prophecy to find her daughter, Mrs. Adeyemi said:

“I never knew that she was lost, so I did not bother focusing my prayer on her. I felt that she is an adult and should be al­lowed to live her life. Most especially, since she gets in touch with her sister, I felt no need to worry. The only time I spoke with her, she said that she was in South Africa.”

She called on the Orekoya family and oth­ers who have fallen victims of Funmilayo’s kidnap syndicate to forgive her daughter as she was hypnotized.

“They kidnapped my daughter and placed her under a spell. What sort of human being from a Christian back­ground will suddenly decide to sell their soul to the devil? 

Please, forgive my daughter and give me the chance to break the spell. You all heard that she claimed that she wanted to expand their family wealth. Which normal woman would be working for a man who has refused to marry her after four children? Please, have mercy on my daughter. I thank God that none of the kids died in the process,” she pleaded.

How she learnt about her arrest, Mrs. Adeyemi said that it was her little daughter that tried to draw her attention to the news on social media.

“She called me that a lady who looks like my daughter is on her whatsapp. I waved it aside till I saw her pictures every­where. It was a great shock. I prayed for the ground to open and swallow me. The shame was too much but no matter how bad a child turns out to be, a mother cannot abandon him or her. I am ashamed but all the same I thank God that she is truly alive. 

It could be God’s way of rescuing my daughter from the hands of those criminals. She is under a spell and almighty God will help me deliver her,” Mrs Adeyemi stated.

As soon as the Orekoya’s kids were taken, the news was all over the social media, while the family reported the matter at the nearest police station in Itire, Surulere. Funmilayo and her gang contacted the family and de­manded N15 million ransom.

Not happy that the Itire police station didn’t act promptly when they got the first complaint on the incident, the state Commis­sioner of Police, Kayode Aderanti ordered that the case be transferred to the state com­mand.

A team of SARS detectives led by Abba Kyari swung into action and traced the criminals to their hideout in Shasha, Akow­onjo area of Lagos. As soon as the kids were released Tuesday night, detectives stormed the hotel where Funmilayo and her maid were moved to by her husband and arrested her while they were busy plotting how to escape from Lagos. Though three other gang mem­bers escaped and are still at large, Funmilayo was not as lucky.

Saturday Sun gathered that out of the ran­som money paid into a bank account, the kidnappers were only able to withdraw about N400,000 using ATM before the bank placed it on red alert and blocked further withdraw­als.

Giving Saturday Sun an insight into how she came into crime, Funmilayo, in an exclu­sive interview at the police station, claimed that it was her relationship with the family of the father of her children that landed her into crime.

“I am a graduate of Osun polytechnic and I have Diploma in Survey. After my studies, I got a job as a receptionist in Osun State, it was there I met Rasheed Kareem and we became friends. I was worried that at the age of 27, I was yet to get married. Luckily, I got pregnant for him and he accepted responsibility for the pregnancy. He introduced me to his fam­ily and they accepted me. He also promised that as soon as his finance improves, that he would marry me in church. Since I knew that he would finally become my husband, I had three other kids making them four”, she said.

Desperate to be called Mrs. Kareem, Fun­milayo said she did not bother to ask what her husband’s real business was.

“I knew that there was something wrong about him but I needed to marry as I was not getting young­er. I knew that if I complained, I would lose him to other women. This was why when my brother-in-law came up with the idea that they wanted me to help them kidnap children, I accepted. I accepted because since I am a mother, I will ensure that all the children kid­napped were well taken care of.

According to the suspect, her husband and brother-in-law, Hakeem had the duty of sourcing for possible targets.

“They gave me different names, including Mary Akinloye. All I know is that as soon as they get anyone, I will be the one to make the call and follow it up. This was how they contacted the Eshar­egaran family in Magodo and several others, including the Orekoya family. I will paint a picture of a poor lady who was looking for nanny job. I will demand to know the kind of accommodation. 

Even when I go to their houses, my husband and in-law will follow me to assess the environment. If there is any need for a guarantor, my mother-in-law will pose as my mother who lives in Ikorodu. Eve­rybody in that family was involved, so it was very easy to co-ordinate. If it is not good, I will call and give an excuse for my lack of interest in the job. The one at Magodo was a good one”, she narrated.