Nigerian socialite and millionaire, John Ika Ewa popularly known as John Lyon is now the fourth gang member to be arrested after police raided his lavish residence in Abuja on Saturday, following a tip-off from other three arrested gang members. The flamboyant socialite was part of a notorious gang accused of extortion and kidnapping, targeting high-profile people in order to demand large ransoms, it is reported.
According to local media, the accused millionaire kidnapper was moved from Abuja to southern state of Bayelsa, where he committed the crimes. Lyon was paraded in the streets of Yenagoa, the state capital, alongside three members of the gang on Monday. One of the members identified in local media as Emmanuel Charles Angase, accused Lyon of being the mastermind of their operations while Lyon denied responsibility saying he was paid to identify the houses of targets.
Authorities have said that the extortionist gang is responsible for at least 10 kidnappings. It is reported that John Lyon’s gang kidnapped his former boss, a senior bank official Danjuma Omeje, for ransom, demanding 60 million Naira, about US$140,000 in June. They also allegedly extracted over US$150,000 in ransom from another kidnapping whom Lyon was also said to be connected to.
The officials further reported that the suspects buried guns by a riverside outside the state capital on a regular basis and would retrieve them whenever they planned an abduction.
More gang members on the loose as the four detained suspects have not yet given further information to aid investigations, it is said. Police have expressed confidence that their ongoing operation to capture of “the most renowned kidnapping gang in Bayelsa” will contribute to calm in the region.
