Before his arrest by the operatives of the Force Intelligence Department-Intelligence Response Team (FID-IRT) and other tactical teams in Oyo State Police Command, Segun Balogun a.k.a. Alawaye was known among other drivers at the Motor Park in Iwo Road Area of Ibadan, Oyo State, where he used to convey passengers to their destinations. Unknown to many, he decided to choose another route to make money.
He applied his driving skills to conveying members of a kidnap gang he joined to their operations and taking the victims to the ‘safe house’ prepared for them. This he hid very well until the gang’s cup became full. Alawaye is among the suspects arrested for their alleged involvement in the kidnap of the former Minister of Power, Chief Adebayo Adelabu’s sister, Mrs Olaide Busayo Adegoke, and her twin sons.
Segun has confessed to how he took the gang leader, Adewale Abolarinwa a.k.a. Oloro, to the house where Adelabu’s extended family members reside, in preparation for the kidnap carried out on June 3.
Segun and one of the men working with a politician (name withheld), revealed how he was approached by Oloro for the kidnap of the woman and her twin children.
It will be recalled that the kidnap victims were rescued last Saturday from where they were held hostage at Lako Community on Ayegun-Olomi Road, Ibadan, by police operatives following the directive of the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Olatunji Rilwan Disu.
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Also arrested were the gang leader, Adewale Abolarinwa a.k.a Oloro, and Dare Oyedele a k.a Solution. It was learnt that Solution was well known as an automobile electrical technician, especially at Orita Challenge area, up to Podo area and its environs in Ibadan. He was also said to have a business where he accommodated other automobile technicians’ workshops. Saturday Tribune discovered that many people who knew him very well are still finding it hard to believe that the same Solution was a kidnap gang member.
According to police sources, the plan to kidnap the twins started on May 5. They mounted surveillance on the compound where the twins live and on the conveyance of the children, to and from school. It was learnt that Solution took up the job of officer in charge of surveillance for the kidnap gang, trailing the targeted twins. Communications between Oloro and Solution, which were intercepted by the IRT operatives, indicated the kidnap gang’s preparedness towards the kidnap operation.
Unknown to the targeted family, Solution knew the school being attended by the twins; he knew the process of opening the gates whenever the car approached the residence of the victims. He knew the make of the vehicle with its tinted side glasses. He observed the smartness of the driver. He knew when the grandmother (ex-minister’s mother) was in the compound.
In one of the intercepted messages, Solution was heard describing the school being attended by the children as posh, equipped with air conditioners and very expensive. Also, Solution, in a chat with Oloro, spoke on how he followed the driver back home to understudy the situation in the environment where the targets were residing, to which Oloro responded that Solution should not allow their plans to drag before they would strike.
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Further information gathered about Solution revealed that he owned two buildings within the Ayegun Community and was the one who helped to get the caretaker from whom the gang rented the house turned into a kidnappers’ den. It was also discovered that his younger brother was living in the same area but had fled since the lid of the gang’s atrocities was blown open. During a search, a pump-action gun was reported to have been found in Solution’s house, totalling three guns recovered from the gang.
Before the rescue of the victims and arrest of the suspects, information had it that the repeated kidnappings within Ibadan had raised suspicion about Oloro’s likely involvement, prompting a kickstart of intelligence-led gathering of information about him, especially when he allegedly jumped bail after his release from prison for a previous kidnap offence.
Since Alawaye was known to be Oloro’s friend, operatives of the Monitoring Unit reportedly met and asked him of Oloro’s whereabouts, to which he responded that he had been calling him but had not been able to reach him. However, the operatives’ eagle eyes saw that he was making attempts to delete some information from his phone, which made them snatch it from him to have a look at what he was trying to do. To their surprise, they reportedly stumbled on a message involving the purchase of a gun by Oloro who told Alawaye that the gun seller had refused to give him the weapon after taking his money.
With that, the operatives detained the suspect for investigation, unknown to them that he was part of the kidnapping that occurred a day before he was picked. His involvement was revealed two days after.
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Oloro asked me if Adebayo Adelabu still had a mother, and I said yes. He asked me again about where she was living and I told him — Suspect
In an interview with Saturday Tribune inside the cell, Segun, aged 47 and an Ibadan indigene, opened up on his membership of the kidnap gang: “I’m a driver who transports passengers from Iwo Road Motor Park at World Oil axis. I didn’t start the operation with the gang from the onset. I have known Oloro for more than 10 years in our transport union. At a point, he committed some crimes and was arrested and remanded. Later, we heard that he was in Lagos.
“Along the line, he returned to Ibadan. One day, I saw him at Iwo Road Motor Park. It was in 2025. He gave me his phone number and some money. We used to chat.
“On a particular day, the transport union chairman and I were discussing Oloro, wondering what he was doing as a job. Before then, a police officer who had been looking for Oloro had told us that he jumped bail. We called him, and he came to us. We discussed his atrocities with him, and he promised not to do such again. He even placed a curse on himself if he ever committed a crime again.
“Oloro started frequenting the motor park. Then, we started discussing upcoming elections and campaigns. In 2019, Oloro and I worked for (name withheld). When he did not win (the governorship), I left the motor park.
“This time (2026/27), we decided to work for (the 2019 candidate who did not win), and we used to call one another. However, at a time, he (Oloro) was not responding to my calls frequently as he said he was busy in Lagos. On his return to Ibadan, he stopped coming to the political group’s outings.
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“Recently, Oloro moved to the camp (of the man who won the primary, name withheld), but I told them I would stay with (the old governorship aspirant, name withheld). However, that didn’t stop us from interacting. One day, in May, while we sat together, Oloro asked me if (Adebayo) Adelabu still had a mother, and I said yes. He asked me again about where she was living, and I told him. He said I should take him to the place. One day we went to Liberty Stadium for (an aspirant’s) declaration. From there, we proceeded to Adelabu’s mother’s house.
