Rita, the wife of Mr. Godson Akubiro, the pastor who was abducted along with six of his children from his Ikorodu home last Friday, has said the State Security Service carried out the operation.
PUNCH Metro had on Tuesday, Decemeber 31, 2013, exclusively reported that 27 gunmen in three jeeps and a Toyota Tundra vehicle stormed Akubiro’s home at Koya Estate, Igbo-Olomo, Ikorodu around 1.30am.
The men had allegedly beaten and tortured the entire family before forcefully taking them away to an unknown destination. Rita at the time, was said to be away on a trip to South Africa.
However, in a telephone interview with PUNCH Metro on Tuesday, Rita said, “Since the incident, I have been trying to find out which security agency was responsible for the abduction. I checked with the Owutu Police Division and they denied sending policemen to the house.
“I checked the SSS office at Shangisha; I was accompanied by my lawyer. They confirmed that indeed, a team of SSS security operatives from Kogi State had reported at their office, saying they had an operation at Ikorodu. When my lawyer asked them what my husband had done, they got angry and told us to leave their office.”
Rita said she later found out that that the SSS team from Kogi returned to the Lagos SSS office with her husband and her children.
At present, Rita is said to be in hiding with the remaining three children who were left behind by the security operatives. The children were said to be aged three, seven and nine years.
She said, “Those gunmen did not spare my children; they were beaten up with iron rods. My nine-year-old boy was tied to a tree. Even my baby wasn’t spared; he was stomped on with boots. They have been receiving medical attention since the incident.
“Yesterday, the gunmen used my eldest daughter’s phone to send me a text; it was a call me back text. When I called back, the number was switched off. They have called me like three times now. Each time I pick and ask who it was, a man will just say ‘don’t worry’ and hang up. It’s like they are trying to trace me with my phone.”
Akubiro, who is founder of Mountain of Breakthrough Church, is said to be an importer of computers and desktop printers.
A neighbour, who pleaded anonymity, said, “When the gunmen were leaving, they took some computers and printers away. These are things Akubiro imports and sells.”
Akubiro’s wife and neighbours have said they could not understand what must have prompted the attack on the family.
When PUNCH Metro contacted the SSS Lagos State Director, Mr. Ben Achu, he said, “The men who took Akubiro are not gunmen as you reported; they are security operatives. It is standard procedure for them to report to our office when they are coming for an operation in Lagos.
“That incident was not abduction; the security operatives are simply following a lead. Akubiro was mentioned by a suspect, so he was taken away for questioning concerning his involvement in a criminal activity. Since his wife knows where he is, she can go there and ask to see him.” Achu was, however, silent on the children.
Meanwhile, the Kogi State Director of the SSS on Tuesday said the command arrested Akubuiro, over allegation of printing and circulation of counterfeit naira notes.
Parading the pastor and 15 other suspects, who included Akabuiro’s six children in Lokoja, Fubara said the SSS had for about four months intensified surveillance on the source of fake currencies in the state.
According to the SSS Kogi boss, the operation took security agents to the Breakthrough Church in Lagos.
Fubara stated that the suspects were being investigated and would be charged to court after investigations were concluded.
According to the SSS director, items recovered from the suspects included equipment and materials allegedly used in printing counterfeit currencies.
Fubara said, “The SSS in its effort to trace the source of the worrisome fake naira currency in circulation in the state undertook a covert operation to uncover those behind the act.
“This operation took the service close to four months before a breakthrough resulting in the arrest of the 16-man syndicate led by Reverend Godson Akubuiro.”
Copyright PUNCH.
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