When interrogated, one of the suspects apprehended, 43 year old Ismail Adesina, who says he is a herbalist, denied being involved in kidnapping or ritual activities but says he and his other members who are currently at large, are involved in producing fake currencies. He said he and his gang members deceived their victims and extorted money from them.
"I am a herbalist and I inherited the skill from my father. I am also a conman. I cured diabetes, barrenness, blindness and other ailments. I have cured many people. My partner, who escaped yesterday, knows how the currencies were produced. Taju and Wasiu are my other partners. We have been here for about four years. We collected varying sums of money from our victims but we do not kidnap people. We bought the land in the bush and built the houses. I am a native of Beyerunka in Ibadan. The names of our victims are with my partners. We have deceived up to five persons, comprising four men and one woman. The woman came to us because she was barren. We asked her to bring N150,000 or N200,000. We built this place ourselves. We do the work of Babalawo here. Our clients used to come from as far as Abuja. I hail from Beyerunka, Ibadan. My father was a Babalawo. But my father was not a fraudster like me. The owners of the cars are our partners that usually bring customers to us. My wife divorced me and went away with the two kids she had for me. She left me about two years ago because she asked me for money and I did not have. I have been into this business before the divorce issue came in.”he said
