•I’m a political thug, not a kidnapper
•I made N6m from a sitting governor
•How I escaped from soldiers who wanted to kill me
•Slain policemen identified themselves before soldiers killed them
•Wadume’s uncle, brother, cousin reveal their roles Suspected
kidnap kingpin, Alhaji Hamisu Balla, a.k.a Wadume, who has been in the
middle of the raging storm between the Nigerian Army and the Nigeria
Police over the murder of three police operatives and two civilians by
soldiers in Ibi town, Taraba state has finally opened up and made
startling revelations.
In an exclusive interview with Saturday
Vanguard, Wadume gave a blow by blow account of his encounter with both
the police and his Army Captain friend in charge of the 93 Battalion,
Wukari who aided his escape after his initial arrest by the police.
Wadume
who expressed shock at the manner the soldiers opened fire on the
Police Toyota Hiace Bus that was conveying him to the Taraba Police
Command Headquarters in Jalingo said while he also sustained bullet
wounds on his right thigh after the shootings, he never asked the army
captain to rescue him from the policemen who arrested him.
He
also explained that as at the time he crawled out of the bullet ridden
bus, which somersaulted three times before landing into the bush, the
policemen were still alive but he was surprised to see the soldiers who
had pursued them to the check-point raining bullets on the policemen
before he was whisked in a red colored car, to the home of the army
captain. He added that after his leg chain and handcuffs were cut off by
a welder invited by the army captain, he was greeted by a large crowd
of residents of Ibi who were standing beside the corpses of the deceased
policemen who were all brought to the home of the army captain.
With
the sum of N550,000 in his pocket after he was rescued, Wadume said he
fled Ibi Town and was hiding in the house of one of his friends, Meito,
at Ungwachiki town but 24 hours, later some soldiers trailed him to his
friend’s house and wanted to kill him. He therefore jumped out of the
window and fled to the river bank, boarded a speed boat into Tunga area
of Nassarawa State, where he spent a night before moving to the home of
his maternal uncle in Kano State.
My Backgound
My name is
Hamisu Balla, alias Wadume, 33 years old and I am from Ibi Local
Government Area of Taraba State. I am married to four wives and I have
four children. I attended Bula Primary school Ibi, but I dropped out
from Government Secondary School Ibi at JSS 3. After I dropped out
school, I started fishing business at the River Benue that flowed
through Ibi Town. This was in 1996 and I did fishing for six years,
but in the year 2002, I went into fishpond business. I used to buy
fingerlings for N30 per one, nurture them for five months before selling
them for N600 and N700. I started small with just two small ponds but I
went on to get five more big ponds with 50 by 50 in size and five feet
deep.
“I am not a kidnapper, but I have sold arms to several
kidnappers. I am a fisher farmer, I own fish ponds, I own a transport
business. I am equally a political thug. I went into crime when some
politicians came for me, they approached me through one Babangida Musa,
who was also into fishing business.
I got N6m from a sitting governor, N13m from APC, defrauded civil servant of N30m,
In
June 2018, I deceived a lot of politicians who were vying for political
offices that I had spiritual powers to enable them win their elections.
I defrauded the governor when he came to Ibi and met the youths in my
town. As the leader of the youths, the Governor met me and I promised to
work for him and to also consult some Mallams who would pray for his
success. The Governor gave me N2million at first and we exchanged
telephone numbers. But one week before the election, the governor
called me and asked me to come to the Government house and when I got
there the governor gave me N4million cash to continue with the prayers.
Immediately after the election, the governor called to thank me.
I
was also given N13million by the APC to prosecute the 2019
presidential election but I spent only seven million. I also defrauded a
civil servant from Ibi of N30million.
I contested the Taraba
state house of Assembly under the YDP Ibi Local Government but I pulled
out of the election and took my supporters to the PDP.
My initial arrest by the police
I
volunteered to follow the policemen when they came to arrest me at Ibi
Town while I was drinking tea with some of my friends. They showed me
their identity cards indicating that they were from the office of the
Inspector General of Police and I volunteered to follow them, because I
knew I could settle any problem I’m confronted with. The policemen
handcuffed me and leg-chained me while I was inside their vehicle and
the Army Captain wasn’t even there when the policemen came to arrest me
and I don’t even know who informed him that I had been arrested.
Slain policemen identified themselves
While
I was being taken out of Ibi, Town, the policemen passed the first
check point which was being maned by some soldiers after they had
identified themselves. They also passed the second check point which was
maned by some Mobile Policemen. But when they got to the third one
where we were attacked, four of the policemen alighted from their bus
and they identified themselves to the policemen and exchanged banters.
I was shocked when the soldiers came after us and rained bullets on our
bus, killing those policemen. I was almost killed in the encounter. I
was then taken to the army captain’s house. When I saw the corpses of
the policemen and their agents in front of the Captain’s house I became
very disturbed and I pretended as if I wanted to urinate and I escaped
from the scene.
How I escaped from soldiers who wanted to kill me
I
called one Audu who is one of my boys who took me on his bike to
Ungwachiki Town in Ibi Local Government and I passed the night in the
house of Meito, my friend. But while I was there some soldiers came to
Meito’s house and started looking for me and they were armed with guns
and machetes and axes, I believed they wanted to kill me.
I don’t
know how they got information that I was in that house but I managed to
escape through the window and fled to the river bank around 8pm where I
boarded a speed boat to Tunga village in Nassarawa State. I spent a
night in Nassarawa state before I boarded another commercial bus to Kano
State. People couldn’t recognize me because of the Sallah holiday. I
had N500,000 with me as I was running from the police and I took the
money to my uncle’s house where I went to hide in Kano.
While I
was hiding, I instructed one of my bothers in Ibi to go to my house and
take away all my rifles. My cousin also brought an idea that I needed
some favorable stories to be written about me, so he engaged a PR
company who were to link up with journalists to write the stories. I
paid N3million for that.
Confession of Wadume’s cousin
I’m
Kawu Moahmmed Kasuwa, 30 years old from Ibi Taraba State, I am a civil
servant and I work with Ibi Local Government. I am an executive officer
at the Admin Department. Wadume is my uncle, he is a younger brother
to my mother. I was arrested in Zaria, because I made efforts to
get journalists to write a favorable story in support of my uncle Wadume
who was being hunted by the police. It wasn’t my idea, but one of my
uncles who was residing in Lagos State, Ismalia Jita who called me and
said that he wasn’t happy with the bad press my Uncle, Wadume was
getting since the incident occurred.
He wanted me to raise some
money to give to the reporters so they could come down to Ibi and speak
with the natives and get a good story about the incident which will be
favorable to Wadume. I asked for N3m and they sent me their company’s
account number and I gave it to my brother, Awal who knew how the money
was paid to the media out fit. I was arrested in Zaria while the
police were looking for my uncle, Wadume. But I took them to my other
uncle Awal in Abuja who I thought could help in their search for Wadume.
I’ve always been suspicious of Wadume—Elder brother
My
name is Auwal Balla, I’m 38 years old, married with four children, I am
commercial motorcycle rider at Alaba Rago Market in Lagos. I am known
as Auwal Wawa. Wadume is my younger brother and we were born of the same
father and mother. I knew my brother to be a fish farmer, a
transporter, political thug and a kidnapper. I never knew that my
brother was into kidnapping until the police came looking for him after
my brother was rescued from the IRT operatives who were killed by the
soldiers he called. When Wadume called and asked me to help him hide
all his rifles in his house, I asked him what he was doing with all
those rifles and he said he was using them for politics.
Then I
called one Uban Delu, my step brother and asked him to go to where
Wadume kept his rifles and take them away and hide them in a different
place. I came to Abuja because some people suggested that we should
get the House of Representatives member representing our area to assist
us in this matter and the people who were to lead me to the Honorable
member asked me to come to Abuja.
While I was in Abuja, one of
my nephews, Kawul called and suggested that we should get some media men
to write favorable stories for him that will change people’s perception
about him. I sold the idea to my younger brother and he bought it. I
then asked Kawu to send me the account number of the company which I
forwarded to Wadume and he credited the company with that money.
I
was in Abuja when the police came and arrested me and I confessed that I
have been in constant communication with my brother since he was
rescued from the police and I also knew that he was in my uncle’s house
in Kano. I have always been suspicious of my brother because he was
spending too much money and since his business was such that couldn’t
yield big money but he always told me to relax, that he was a political
thug and was making big money from politicians, it was when he was
arrested and rescued that I knew that my brother must have been into
kidnapping.
Why I harboured Wadume in my house—Uncle
I’m
Rayyanu Abdul, 46, from Kano State. I am married to a wife and I have
six children. I am a civil servant and I work with Kano State Senior
Secondary School Management Board, Kano. I am Wadume’s uncle, his
mother is my elder sister. Wadume told me that he was into fish farming,
car sales and cattle rearing but I didn’t know that my nephew was
into kidnapping or any other crime.
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